Averting Loneliness
by Lucca-Ace
Summary: When Kaoru takes Kyouya out to distract him from missing Tamaki, he makes an interesting discovery. Apparently, Kyouya is quite attractive. Kyouya/Kaoru
1. Chapter 1

Hello friends! This story is something that came into my head when I was sitting in my lonely college apartment with no internet access. Since I did not have access to slash, I wanted to write slash, and these two have always seemed fairly easy to slash. Funny thing is, I was just gonna write a little backstory for a lemon, and then I couldn't stop with the story. I will hopefully add that lemon in later in the story, do not fear.

Of course I don't own anything, except my computer, and a new Cat5 cable.

Please be warned, in case you haven't already understood, this is a story about boys who like boys. If you don't like boys who like boys, please do not read this. You will not like it.

Everyone else, I hope you enjoy. Please feel free to comment!

* * *

He watched his twin, his other self, closely for signs of depression. The thought of either of them being depressed was once laughable, and nearly everyone who knew them would still laugh at it, but Kaoru knew better. Sometimes he wondered if broadening their world was really a good idea. They loved their new friends, but at times like these it didn't seem worth it.

Tamaki and Haruhi were holding hands. They didn't do it while the club was in session, but once all of the girls left, they would find their way to each other and somehow they would wind up with fingers twined.

Hikaru caught him watching. Dammit.

He didn't say anything out loud, but they didn't really need words. Hikaru's brow wrinkled slightly, _What's wrong with you?_

Kaoru shifted his gaze, _Nothing._

Eyebrows came together and his left shoulder twitched. _Bullshit. Tell me._

The younger ignored him and carried the outfits for the day into the back closet. He wasn't going to answer.

"Tono!" Hikaru sang, "Kaoru and I just remembered, we have some stuff to do at home. See you tomorrow!" Then he grabbed Kaoru and dragged him out the door and to the waiting car.

"What the hell?"

"Well," Hikaru said, "You weren't telling, so now I'm gonna make you tell. You've been freaking staring at me all week. I notice these things. What gives?"

"It's nothing, ok? Don't worry about it."

They noticed a bevy of their admirers nearby, trying to watch without being seen.

"Oh, Kaoru, whatever is bothering you, please don't hide it from me. I will do whatever I can to make sure that my dearest is without worries."

Falling into his role, Kaoru pressed closer to his brother, batting his eyelashes for all he was worth. "Oh, wonderful Hikaru, that makes me feel so much better! I know that nothing can trouble me, when you're here." They lean _a bit_ closer, hold it for a second, and break into identical grins at the screams.

As they get into the car, Kaoru's laughter fades when he sees Hikaru's serious face.

"What's wrong? I mean it. I can't help you if you don't tell me what it is. Did I do something particularly stupid lately?"

Kaoru hesitated, then decided that the truth was the best option. "It's just…Tono and Haruhi have been holding hands."

"And that bothers you? I thought you didn't like Haruhi anymore."

"It doesn't bother me; I was worried that it would bother you! I mean, you'd think Tono would be a little more considerate, knowing that you gave up on Haruhi so they could be together. He's so freaking selfish!" Kaoru crossed his arms and sulked.

"Little brother, I'm fine. Really. I didn't really love Haruhi anyway—not like Tono does. Besides, what I did is no different than what you did when you let me go after her. Why do you get to be self-sacrificing and noble and not me? Huh?"

Kaoru blinked. He had never thought of that.

"Stupid," Hikaru chuckled affectionately. "I think they're gonna go on another date soon. Haruhi needs a dress to wear for it. Let's get some options together!"

They walked inside, heads together, plotting their friend's demise.

The next day, school and Host Club went as usual. The twins' performance was perfect, and several girls had to be carried out of the Music room afterwards.

While Hikaru was talking to Hunny about clothing ideas for Bun-Bun, Kaoru was, once again, putting away the costumes for the day. The week before, Haruhi had folded a velvet jacket, making it crease in an unsightly manner, and the twins had stripped her of all clothing duty.

"I'm glad to see the two of you managed to work out your problems."

Kaoru jumped, nearly dropping the costumes. "Geez, Kyouya, don't do that! You nearly gave me a heart-attack, I swear."

The "Shadow King" just laughed. The bastard.

"So what've you been up to lately, Kyouya?"

"Oh, the usual," he responded. Kaoru noticed his eyes going over to the happy couple, and felt guilty. Maybe it wasn't Hikaru he should've been worried about.

"You alright, Kyouya?" he asked.

The older boy looked at him like he was crazy. "Of course. I am always alright."

Kaoru was skeptical. "If you say so. You're not lonely or anything, are you? 'Cause I can come bug you like I did when Hikaru was chasing Haruhi. I know that Tono's kind of like your Hikaru, and so it can't be easy to let him go. Even if you are happy for him."

"That's an interesting way to put it. But if anything, I'm glad to have the extra time to concentrate on my portfolio. When he's not engaged in something, Tamaki can be quite demanding."

"Hey Kaoru! Wanna help me figure something out for Bun-Bun to wear for Halloween?" Hikaru sounded excited. Kaoru looked over at him and saw that he had everything already basically figured out. He'd be fine without his little brother this time.

"Why don't you handle it for now? I'll help you when I get home later. Kyouya just asked me if I'd help him out with something."

Hikaru would be able to guess what was up, but no one else was likely to. Maybe Haruhi, but she was too busy blushing about holding hands with Tono. Kyouya was one of the one's who enlarged his and Hikaru's world, and as a consequence, he was going to have to deal with being Kaoru's friend. Even if he wanted to be left alone.

Two hours later, Kaoru was regretting his decision. Kyouya could be so _boring_. Fed up, he marched over to his upperclassman and closed his laptop. He was a little afraid when Kyouya's glasses flashed at him, but he held his ground.

"Kyouyaaaa! Let's do something fun. I'm sick of sitting around here."

"What would you suggest?" He obviously hadn't forgiven the redhead for stopping his work, but at least he wasn't violent.

"Um," Kaoru tried to think quickly, "How about karaoke? There's a fun place just up the road. Hikaru and I have gotten a room there before. It'll be fun! I've never heard you sing before."

Kyouya was going to say no. Kaoru could feel it. To stop him, he grabbed his hand and dragged him out of the school-building. By the time Kyouya was able to respond, they were already halfway to the Karaoke place.

"You do realize that you're wasting my time, don't you Kaoru?"

"Yeah," he replied, happy that his plan was working, "But I don't really care. You need to get out more. Enjoy these years! Don't worry about being so serious yet; wait until you're fully grown."

Kyouya didn't respond, and Kaoru took that as a sign that he won. Just to keep him from getting angrier, though, he didn't make Kyouya pay for the room.

After about half an hour of singing, Kyouya started to lighten up. He even sang a few popular songs, even though his voice really was nothing to brag about.

"Oh, right, like you sing any better," he muttered, not really upset.

"I have the voice of the angels. No, the angels are jealous of how well I sing. That's how awesome I am."

"Then why haven't I heard anything worth remembering, well, worth remembering for being good?"

Kaoru scoffed and picked up the mike. As the song began to play, he did his best to screech as obnoxiously as he could into the microphone, managing at the same time to actually sing the song. He didn't even get halfway through before he was laughing too hard to sing anymore.

Kyouya was laughing just as hard. The younger boy stopped laughing and just stared as his stoic friend shook with the force of his laughter. The black-haired boy slowed and looked at Kaoru questioningly.

"Something the matter?"

"No," Kaoru choked out, "I don't know if I've ever seen you laugh that hard, is all. You hardly ever really laugh. I mean, yeah, you'll chuckle evilly sometimes, but that doesn't count."

Kyouya didn't exactly look convinced, but he let it slide. "Looks like we're out of time. Want to sing some more? I can buy half an hour or so more, if you'd like."

Kaoru shook his head. "Nah, I'm good. I should get home and help Hikaru with Bun-Bun's outfit. Leaving him in charge completely is a bad idea."

He was shocked when Kyouya actually looked a little disappointed. "You're probably correct. There's no telling what he'd try to pull, and then Hunny would have to kill him, which would make you sad."

Kaoru didn't know what to think of that, so he just brushed it off. "Hey, next time, though. I know! What're you doing this weekend? Mom and Dad will be out of town at one of Mom's shows, and she doesn't need us, so Hikaru and I were just gonna hang out and cause trouble. You're welcome to come hang out with us, though. Keep us from doing anything too stupid."

"We'll see," Kyouya replied, almost smiling. Kaoru was glad he did this—he didn't realize how much Kyouya missed Tono.

They waved as they left the Karaoke place. Kaoru would've usually hugged him, just to be obnoxious, but he didn't want Kyouya to realize exactly what effect he had on him. He'd thought the laughter would've been the end of him.

Adjusting himself surreptitiously, Kaoru walked to the car he'd called for a few minutes before. The ride home was quiet and it gave him time to think about the events of the evening. He'd thought that once Hikaru came back to him, he would leave Kyouya in peace, but he couldn't stand seeing his new friend lonely.

Then there was the issue of his crush. He was pretty sure it was just a crush, but sometimes he wondered just how deep his feelings for his upperclassman went. His body cheerfully reminded him that he was certainly attracted to the boy physically, making Kaoru glare at his fly.

When the car pulled into the drive, he was no closer to figuring out what exactly he felt for Kyouya. Since there was nothing to be done about it now, and he wasn't sure if he was ready to tell Hikaru about it yet, he put it off for a later time.

"Kaoru!" Hikaru ran down the stairs and flung himself into his brother's arms. "I missed you so much! Save me!"

Kaoru looked up to see a displeased Hunny at the top of the stairs.

"What'd you do?" Kaoru ignored Hikaru's questioning glance towards his groin. Now he'd have to tell, but at least it could wait until after Hunny left.

"Nothing! I was trying to help pick out colors for Bun-Bun's outfit, and Hunny got mad at me. Make him play nice."

Rolling his eyes, the calmer twin took Hikaru's hand and walked with him upstairs. Together, the four of them (Mori had been holding Bun-Bun while Hikaru fled for his life) figured out exactly what the stuffed-animal needed for the Halloween party.

The cousins left once everything was settled, trusting the twins to do the sewing competently. Once they were out the door, Hikaru turned on his little brother.

"So who's the soon-to-be lucky girl? I thought you were hanging out with Kyouya this evening. You could've told me if you had a date."

Face turning red, despite the fact that he knew it was silly to be embarrassed in front of Hikaru, he winced as he spoke. "I did spend the evening with Kyouya."

Hikaru looked confused for a few moments. Kaoru waited, knowing he would get it in a little bit. There it was—a huge grin split the older twin's face.

"Really? Kyouya? He's, huh, well, he's attractive enough, I guess. But he's a bit of a jerk. Actually, he's a huge jerk, which is fine by me, but I always thought you'd like someone nice. Damn. Kyouya? Are you screwing with me?"

"We sang karaoke together, and he laughed. I mean really laughed. You should've seen him. His head was thrown back and his whole body shook and he looked like I've never seen him before. It was, well, you felt my reaction."

Hikaru looked amused, but he wasn't going to make fun of Kaoru. He listened to his little brother extol Kyouya's many greatnesses while the two of them worked the sewing machine. They finished Bun-Bun's costume just about the time Kaoru finished talking.

"So what're you gonna do about it?"

"I'm not planning on doing anything about it. He's Kyouya. The Shadow King. I don't have a death wish. I'll be okay with a one-sided crush; it won't kill me."

Hikaru's eyebrow rose. "You're going to do something about it. I'm not listening to you fawn over him from afar. I'll kill us first."

Kaoru looked worried. "But Kyouya's not gay. He's not even bi. How's this gonna work?"

"Are you sure he's only into girls? Have you ever seen him act interested in a girl? Trust me; this'll work. I've got a plan."

The twins put their heads together and started whispering.

In his bedroom, a sudden chill came over Kyouya.

* * *

Hee Hee, this has been fun! Stick around to see what Hikaru's plan is!


	2. Chapter 2

Hey, sorry it's taken a little while to post a second chapter. I got my internet back and got distracted. Luckily, work is boring enough to make me write. Hooray!

Anyways, I hope you enjoy this. :)

* * *

Kaoru still wasn't sure about whether or not Kyouya would want to kill him after this, but he was pretty sure the plan would work. Hikaru, after all, was rather evil, and could come up with the most deliciously twisted plans.

Throughout the day, the twins avoided each other carefully. They didn't talk to one another, look at one another, or acknowledge the other's presence in any way. But, they also didn't act like anything was wrong. Subtlety was key when dealing with Kyouya.

He could feel Haruhi's eyes on him halfway through the day. She asked Hikaru what was going on, but he played at ignorance. She didn't buy it, but neither of them was going to reveal their plan, so she just let it slide for the time being.

Kaoru had expressed the obvious flaw in the plan when they were discussing the night before. If they didn't interact during Club hours, Kyouya would kill him before he could get any kisses. The younger twin was pretty sure that, dark as Kyouya was, he probably wasn't into the whole necrophilia thing.

The excuse they came up with was that the girls had likely noticed their avoidance during the day, and that they could convince Kyouya that it would bring up revenues in the end. Of course, they'd have to do the convincing separately, and Hikaru suggested that Kaoru "convince" Kyouya "in private," but no matter how they did it, they would make their act believable. They always did.

Just as they'd predicted, Kyouya approached them about their disagreement.

"Don't worry, Kyouya," Hikaru assured him, "We've got it under control. Just be patient for a few days, and you'll see."

Not satisfied completely with this answer, Kyouya went to Kaoru.

"What's going on? Why aren't the two of you talking?"

"Well, if someone had let me help with Bun-Bun's outfit, we wouldn't be having this problem. Nevertheless, you really shouldn't worry. Everyone loves a little drama now and then. The girls will want to hear each of us. Remember the last time we separated?"

The older boy regarded him for a long moment before agreeing. He obviously wasn't sure exactly was happening, but he trusted the twins' slyness enough not to question it too much.

For a brief moment, the twins' eyes met.

When they set up that day separately, the girls had swarmed nearly twice as much as before. Kaoru caught Kyouya's approving glance and smiled. He'd thought about giving him a flirtatious grin, like he used when he and Hikaru were working together, but figured that would be pushing it. Slow and steady, otherwise he might fall on his face.

At the end of the day, Hikaru loudly attached himself to Hunny and Mori, who had come over after finishing their classes for the day, claiming that they had more work to do on Bun-Bun's costume. Hunny had been excited about working on it, but he'd expressed a little concern about Kaoru's lack of involvement.

"He doesn't have anything to add, anyway. His creativity has completely left him. Bun-Bun will be better off without his stale ideas."

Kaoru looked down at the ground, appearing to everyone to be ashamed and miserable. Tamaki yelled something about the children fighting, and even Haruhi looked a little alarmed.

Before Hunny could say anything about it, Hikaru pulled him and Mori out of the room towards the parking lot. The twins had realized that they wouldn't be able to pull anything completely over the oldest members' eyes, so they decided to let them at least partly in on their plan.

Hikaru had also said he'd deal with Haruhi if need be. It was possible that she and Tamaki would be so busy together that it wouldn't be necessary, but Kyouya was Tamaki's best friend, and if Kaoru was messing with Kyouya, Tamaki might get involved. Hikaru promised Kaoru that he'd keep Tono out of it. For a brief moment, Kaoru felt bad about all of the secrecy, but then he figured that it would be better for them in the long run.

Kyouya worked on calming Tamaki while Kaoru made small talk with Haruhi. She was still suspicious, but she figured it was one of their grand plans like always, and wasn't too worried. Haruhi was smart like that.

When the couple left, blushing, Karou approached Kyouya. The senior was hard at work on his laptop, as always, and Kaoru was content for the moment just to watch. Thoughts of Kyouya had been tickling his mind for a while, but it wasn't until last night that he'd finally recognized it for being a crush.

Now it seemed particularly dense of him not to have noticed sooner. Light from the laptop cast soft shadows on Kyouya's face, making his pale skin seem unearthly. His glasses reflected the screen but the eyes behind them were all human. People called Kyouya cold, but at least he was passionate; Kaoru wanted to see if he could be passionate about anything else.

Kyouya looked up from his computer at the other boy. A bit of heat found its way to Kaoru's cheeks, as he'd been caught staring. He continued to stare bravely at Kyouya, until the Shadow King's unblinking gaze proved too much for him. Looking down, his cheeks reddened further.

"So are you going to tell me what's going on?"

Kaoru shook his head, looking down. It wasn't time yet. Although he was pretty sure that Kyouya was a little suspicious after the staring match.

"You planned this, didn't you? You and Hikaru. What are the two of you hoping to accomplish? Are you trying to mess with my head or something? Because, let me assure you, I am better at that game than you are."

Kaoru risked a look up, jumping when he saw how close Kyouya was standing.

"We're not messing with you. Just trying something out. I'll let you know how it goes when we're finished, if you'd like."

Kyouya didn't look very convinced. In fact, he looked a little angry, thinking that Kaoru was outright lying to him. He stepped even closer, resting his hand on Kaoru's shoulder in a way that most would see as gentle, but Kaoru knew better.

Pulling the shorter boy close, arm now around his narrow shoulders, Kyouya leaned in and whispered, breath moving the auburn hair by Kaoru's ear. "If I discover that you have been attempting to _screw with me_, I will end you."

Kaoru cursed his teenaged, over-reacting hormones and suppressed a shiver, hoping that Kyouya would misinterpret it as being from fear. But MAN, that voice! It was low and husky and dangerous and Kaoru was glad that the blue blazer covered the front of his pants.

"D-don't worry, Kyouya! We're not screwing with you," _no matter how much I may want to_, he added to himself. "Honest. I don't wanna die."

Kyouya looked slightly appeased, and Kaoru breathed a sigh of relief.

"So if you're not trying to mess with me, why are you still here? I thought you would jump at the chance to work on something as whimsical as a Halloween costume for Bun-Bun."

"Oh, well, actually, we've pretty much completed it already. That was just to get everyone out of the club room."

"You contrived a reason to be left alone with me, assisted by your brother, but you swear the two of you aren't messing with me?"

Kaoru grinned, now confident that Kyouya wouldn't kill him. "We're not messing with you, but we might be observing you. Just so that we can better understand how you tick, you see. You're such a mystery, and we were a little bored, even with the costume, so we decided to see what goes on behind that cool facade."

"What makes you think it's a facade?"

Leaning close, nose almost touching his upperclassman's, Kaoru whispered, "Last night, when you laughed. There's more to you than you let on. And I want to see it."

Black eyebrows furrowed in confusion. This wasn't normal.

"So, Kyouyaaa, what do you want to do tonight? Do you have a Halloween costume picked out yet?"

Kyouya was thrown off balance, and Kaoru allowed himself a small smile of victory, as that was no easy task.

"No, I don't. Not yet."

"Well, let's work on that, then. What do you think would be something cool to be this year? Are we doing an event for the club, where you'd need to dress to impress the customers?"

Kyouya answered the questions suspiciously, but eventually calmed down. Things returned to normal between them, and they worked for several hours together.

Kaoru found that he really did enjoy spending time with Kyouya doing normal things. He'd enjoyed that before, of course, but he had worried about that changing, now that he was aware of his crush.

This time when they left, Kaoru risked giving Kyouya a friendly hug. After all, they were both guys, and Kyouya was his pal. He wasn't exactly a very huggy person, but Kaoru figured it wouldn't matter. Besides, he wanted to touch.

Kyouya had been stiff in the hug, but that didn't dampen Kaoru's spirits any. The older boy was all wiry muscle and strong frame. Grinning as he said goodbye, Kaoru ran off before Kyouya could say anything else.

* * *

Yeah, so he showed some of his hand to Kyouya. Wouldn't you, if he were threatening your life? Review if you want to (I hope you want to...). I love confusing the Shadow King, though.


	3. Chapter 3

Wow, this took a lot longer than I anticipated to get up. I was writing for my classes and then I had exams, and basically I just didn't have time to work on this. But I do now! And I hope to finish it by Halloween. I suspect that there are only 2 or so chapters left. But maybe not. We shall see.

* * *

Hikaru hadn't been happy to hear that Kaoru had revealed some of their plot to Kyouya, but he admitted that it had been necessary, considering the circumstances. Now, however, it would be even more difficult for Kaoru to get time alone with Kyouya.

"I didn't know what else to do! He was gonna strangle me with my tie and then skin me with his cell phone. Seriously. I was terrified."

The older twin sighed. "Alright, I forgive you. We'll just have to venture into more dangerous territory now."

"More dangerous than our original plan? Is that even possible?"

Hikaru's grin was full of mischief and evil. He leaned close to Kaoru and whispered the plan in his little brother's ear. Gold eyes widened. It was practically suicide, but it would be more fun than they'd had in a long time.

When they arrived at school, they continued their "fighting" act from the day before. The girls were alarmed and distressed over this, as was Tamaki.

Kyouya, however, did not seem amused.

"I'm not going to fall for the same trick again, you know."

Kaoru grinned at him, feeling a rush of danger. Gray eyes narrowed menacingly, raising Koaru's heart-rate.

The two of them were hidden in a little-used lab at the end of a hallway. Kaoru's grin grew wider when Kyouya jumped as Hikaru came from behind.

"It's like this, Kyouya," Hikaru began.

"Either I get to pick your brain apart every evening after club hours," Kaoru continued...

"Or we refuse to accept customers due to our 'fight,'" Hikaru finished.

Kaoru was extremely interested in the way Kyouya's face shifted minutely in the next minute. At first, his eyes got slightly rounder. Then his teeth began to grind together. Finally, glasses flashing, he assumed a look of stubborn acceptance. The twins grinned at each other over this reaction, which only made Kyoya's anger more difficult for him to conceal.

The twins had figured that Kyouya wouldn't let go of his suspicion that they were taking him as one of their toys if they took this route, which would help to hide Kaoru's real reason for wanting to spend time with him. They weren't sure that this wouldn't get in the way of Kyouya actually believing Kaoru when he confessed (_if_ he confessed, Kaoru thought to himself), but he was a smart guy. He'd figure it out eventually, which actually worried Kaoru a bit.

"So Kyouya," Hikaru practically purred, "What do you say?"

Kyouya carefully unclenched his teeth. "Fine. I will accept this arrangement for now. But I will figure out what the two of you are up to. And then you will pay."

They simply smiled sweetly at him and waved. "See you at the Host Club, Kyouya!" Kaoru sang.

When he did see Kyouya at the Club that afternoon, the older boy was in quite a state. Kyouya's glasses were flashing more than usual, and his fingers pounded the keyboard with violent fervor. Kaoru knew he should be terrified, but Kyouya looked almost cute throwing his temper tantrum.

The twins played off their disagreement beautifully, an easy task considering they usually pretended to be in love with each other, trying hard not to catch each other's eyes too often. Of course, a chance at reconciliation would raise revenue, and Kaoru didn't want to hang out with a belligerent Kyouya later.

He caught Hikaru's eye and assumed his "uke-brother" look, knowing that Hikaru would figure it out. Hikaru gazed back longingly, and only Kaoru could tell how hard he was trying not to laugh. He undoubtedly knew what Kaoru was doing and agreed with it, but still thought it was funny how much Kaoru wanted to make Kyouya happy.

The gaze broke, and several girls sighed deeply. They wanted their favorite couple back together but they also enjoyed seeing how they obviously still loved each other despite their disagreement. It was just like a yaoi manga, when the lovers would fight, but the readers knew they were getting back together—the twins had done their research, after all.

Kaoru snuck a look at Kyouya, smiling when he saw his upperclassman smirk in approval. He could be so predictable sometimes. If only Kaoru could predict what his reaction would be to a confession from a boy.

When activities were over and everyone else left, Kaoru slid over to Kyouya's chair.

"So, did we do good today?" His head tilted endearingly, hands behind his back.

"I suppose," Kyouya tried not to look pleased.

"Let's take your measurements for that costume. Then we can start picking colors and specific designs." Kaoru was especially excited about having license to touch Kyouya so much. He had even made sure to wear extra-tight underwear today in order to hide his reaction.

Kyouya sighed, sounding world-weary and tired. He obviously harbored some anger still, but Kaoru was confident that he could dispel the bad mood. Or, rather, he hoped very much that he could, as that would mean that they were good for each other.

When Kyouya stood in front of him with an eyebrow raised, posture giving off a "well, what are you waiting for" vibe, Kaoru gulped. Just the night before, he'd allowed himself to imagine what being intimate with Kyouya would be like, and it had started off in his head with just that pose and expression. Perhaps this wasn't such a good idea after all.

"You, uh, you should probably take off your jacket. That way the measurements will be accurate." Then he gulped as Kyouya stripped off his outermost layer.

Steeling himself, he walked within touching distance of Kyouya.

"Don't you need a tape measure?" Kaoru wasn't aware that a voice could smirk.

"Oh, hah, right. Sorry, I forgot." He scampered to his bag, grabbed said tool, and hurried back. "Okay, now we can get started," Kaoru laughed nervously.

He fidgeted as he felt Kyouya's eyes studying his expression. The older boy was still trying to figure out the twins' motivation. If Kaoru wasn't careful here, he knew Kyouya would see straight through him.

"You mentioned something about color choices," Kyouya softened his voice to accommodate for the short distance between them, making him sound slightly huskier. "Should we go with a more historically correct design? Or would it be better to stick with blacks and grays in consideration of the holiday being celebrated?"

The puffs of warm air seemed to Kaoru to caress his face, which turned warm again. He hated blushing, but all of the time he'd spent cultivating a fake blush for use with Hikaru had resulted in making a genuine blush more difficult to suppress. It didn't help that the whispering had also been part of his fantasy last night.

"Um, I'm not sure yet?"

"That's fine. We can figure it out later, I'm sure. I'll let you take your measurements now.

He decided to start with the neck measurement, since that one would be the least embarrassing. The ribbon wrapped around Kyouya's slender neck. Kaoru wrote a number on the scrap of paper he'd grabbed along with the tape measure.

Then he decided to take all of the measurements done from the back next, since that meant he wouldn't have Kyouya staring at him the whole time. He stretched the tape across the broad shoulders in front of him, unnecessarily running his hand along it in a smoothing motion. Kyouya's shoulders twitched, allowing Kaoru to feel the play of muscle under the white dress shirt.

Next, he took the measurements from the nape of the neck. First from the nape to the waist, then from the nape to the floor.

"Hold this?" He pressed on the ribbon at the back of Kyouya's neck. Their fingers brushed, and Kaoru licked his lips nervously at the jolt he felt. When he knelt to the ground, he took a voyeuristic moment to admire the fine ass he was eye-level to and inches from. Perhaps he stayed down there longer than strictly necessary before writing the number, but he didn't think Kyouya would notice.

When he measured Kyouya's inseam, his hands were trembling, and he was grateful he was still behind the Shadow King, still kneeling from the measurement to the floor.

"Sorry," he murmured, as he placed the end of the tape at the junction of Kyouya's leg and groin. This measurement he took quickly, beginning to feel exactly how uncomfortably tight that underwear was.

Then he stood, took a quiet steadying breath, and returned to face Kyouya. He told Kyouya to put his hand on his waist and measured the length of his arm. Next came the all-important waist measurement. Kaoru managed to keep himself from making a sound of approval at the firm stomach beneath his hands. Finally, he wrapped the tape measure around Kyouya's chest, for a moment encircling his crush with his arms, and then adjusted the measure to fit snugly and squarely.

"Interesting," Kyouya breathed.

Kaoru's eyes shot up, wide and terrified. "What's interesting?"

"Hmm, nothing," Kyouya looked far too smug.

Not at all comfortable with that answer, but not going to press any further because of cowardice, Kaoru just wrote down the measurements and rolled the ribbon into a tight circle.

"Um, I just remembered that I have some homework to do tonight," Kaoru managed to say, "So I'm gonna go ahead and go. We can talk about colors and stuff tomorrow."

Then, he was ashamed to tell his brother, he literally ran away.

* * *

Well, I hope you enjoyed that as much as I did. What did Kyouya find interesting? How hard will Hikaru laugh at Kaoru for being a little coward? Find out next time I post!

Also, I would love constructive criticism. Admittedly, this isn't my most revised work, but I'd still like to know where I can improve.

Thanks guys!


	4. Chapter 4

Hey there! Thanks for the reviews, it makes me really really really happy to get them.

Here's the next chapter! I realize that it's a little short, but I think I reached a good stopping place. Hope you guys like it!

* * *

"Wait, what did he say?" Hikaru lay on his back on the bed, head hanging over the edge, looking at Kaoru, who was pacing across the floor.

"He said, 'interesting,' like he'd just noticed something. And when I asked him what he meant, he didn't answer me. Maybe he noticed how I felt? Maybe he noticed that he wants me? Maybe he didn't understand how measurements were taken until then? It's so frustrating!"

"I'll say. I can't believe you ran. You're such a girl," he turned onto his stomach, snickering.

Kaoru glared at him. "Shut up! You know how scary he can be! And I seem to have lost all sense of self-preservation when it comes to him. Instead of being terrified, I get turned on." He groaned.

"Hey, you invited him over for the weekend right? I can make sure that the two of you have some uninterrupted time together." Hikaru winked lewdly.

"I don't think that'll be necessary," Kaoru licked his lips nervously, "I mean, he's probably not even going to come. He's pissed at us, remember?"

"Yeah, but he was 'interested' in something earlier. Maybe he's figured it out. Even though you've been hiding it pretty good, you know you can't keep it from Kyouya forever. He's smarter than everyone else."

Kaoru fidgeted nervously. Hikaru was right-if anyone was going to figure it out, it would be Kyouya.

"Whatever. I say he won't come. Let's do something fun and not thing about this?"

Hikaru was obviously thinking about making their disagreement into a bet, but there were only so many times that putting Kaoru into embarrassing outfits was funny, and he'd passed that mark long ago. Now it seemed Kaoru didn't mind skirts any more than he minded the blue school jacket.

While they brainstormed fun things to do while their parents were out, acquiring a broad selection of alcohol in the process, the doorbell rang. Two pairs of golden eyes met, Hikaru's grinning and Kaoru's terrified, as they heard the distinct voice of Kyouya talking to their housekeeper.

"Kyouya, what brings you here," the older twin drawled, wearing his signature grin.

"Kaoru invited me. I had nothing better to do this weekend, so I decided to come over." His voice sounded the same as usual, but Kaoru didn't feel any better about it. "I realize, of course, that it's only Friday afternoon, but I thought you might want to get a head start on whatever trouble you were planning."

"Trouble? What makes you think we're planning trouble?" Kaoru's mouth wasn't able to speak yet, still in shock over Kyouya's appearance, so Hikaru kept up their end of the conversation.

"Surely nothing other than trouble can come from that amount of alcohol," pale lips smirked, glasses flashed, and Kaoru still couldn't move. He was sure that Kyouya knew somehow and was just messing with them.

A perfect black eyebrow rose in Kaoru's direction.

"H-hey Kyouya! I'm glad you decided to take up my offer," Kaoru pathetically attempted to say something.

"So far, all we have planned is consuming some of the drinks in front of us. You're smart," Hikaru smiled at Kaoru, "perhaps you can help us figure out what else to do!"

"Hmm, let me think about it," Kyouya's voice lowered and he walked towards Kaoru thoughtfully. He rested his hand on Karou's shoulder, this time without the threat, ran it down to the elbow, and then let go.

Kaoru's breath shortened and he managed to suppress his shiver. Hikaru, who was currently torn between wanting to laugh and wanting to punch Kyouya for touching Kaoru, had been right. Seeming to come to a decision, Kyouya opened his mouth.

Anything Kyouya might have suggested was drowned out by someone else entering the house.

"Demons! What are you doing with Kyouya?"

The twins rolled their eyes and stood between the King and Prince.

"Tono, what are you doing here?" Kaoru was annoyed despite his earlier nervousness.

"We didn't invite you over," Hikaru pointed out.

"But you invited Mommy? Are you trying to get him into trouble?" Then Tamaki spotted the bottles. "Are you going to get Mommy drunk and make him dance around the living room with a lampshade on his head singing badly? Why would you do that to Mommy?"

"Come on, Tamaki! We just wanted to hang out with Kyouya a little. Is that a crime?"

"Yeah," Hikaru added, "it's not like you hang out with him anymore. I bet Haruhi's outside or downstairs right now, isn't she?"

"What does that have to do with anything? We were going to go see Kyouya when his housekeeper told us that he was here. You're trying to defile him, aren't you?"

The three began a yelling match, fiercer than any they'd had before. Kaoru, in particular, attacked Tamaki.

"What's wrong, Kyouya?" Haruhi's soft voice startled the arguers from their battle. Kaoru looked over towards Kyouya and saw that his expression wasn't quite the same as usual. It was close, but held a sadness that made Kaoru feel like a complete jerk.

"Nothing, Haruhi. But I think that this is unnecessary. And I don't need people seeking my company out of pity. I'm going home now. Goodbye."

He walked stiffly out the door and down the stairs, upset at the thought that the twins had been toying with him, not because of some evil scheme or off-color joke, or even because of the attraction he thought he'd seen from Kaoru, but because they'd felt that he needed their meddling to keep his mind off of Tamaki's abandonment.

Tamaki wasn't sure what just happened, but, thanks to Haruhi's sharp insight, didn't say anything and just left.

Kaoru stood at the top of the stairs, staring at the closed door, devastated.

* * *

What's going to happen next? Will Kyouya kill everyone? Will Kaoru ever get laid? How come Hikaru's been right so often (actually, I don't have an answer for this one...)?

Reviews make me have great happy days and even make me update more quickly. ^.^


	5. Chapter 5

Um...so about being finished by now...well, apparently the muses didn't want to let this go. Also, I wanted to say that I love how cute the twins are together. Even though in this story they aren't lovers, they're still really close. And snuggly and cuddly. Also, I don't know if Kyouya is completely in character. Sorry 'bout that.

* * *

All of that alcohol, Kaoru decided several hours and even more bottles later, had been a bad idea. Hikaru had, as always, kept up with him, but that actually made things worse. One drunk Hitachiin led to somewhat stupid decisions. Two of them meant worldwide disaster.

"Don' know why he had to get so," Kaoru was briefly distracted by the way his hand, which he'd been waving around for emphasis, seemed blurrier than usual.

"Huh?" Hikaru was giggling, rolling back and forth over the king-sized bed.

"So..." Kaoru was confused now. What had he been talking about? Oh, right, Kyouya. "Well, so sexy for one. Did you see his ass? I saw his ass. Up close and personal-like. Yesterday. It was sexy. Sexy sexy sexy."

"I don't get it," Hikaru said carefully, trying very hard not to slur, "I mean, what's wrong with wanting to hang out with him? I think he's cool. Evil, you know? Like me. 'S that why you like 'im?"

Kaoru thought about this very seriously. Then he pictured Kyouya with ginger hair and his brother with glasses and started laughing.

"You'd make a funny Kyouya!" His alcohol-weakened knees buckled with the force of his laughter, sending him crashing to the floor. If it hurt, Kaoru didn't notice.

"So why d'you like him then?" Hikaru crawled over to Kaoru, staring at his face from inches away.

"'Cause he's Kyouya," Kaoru said, tone suggesting that the question was stupid. "He's funny and smart and evil and...stuff. You know? Just. Yeah. Oh, and sexy. Sexy sexy sexy."

"Hey!" Hikaru tried to jump to his feet but didn't get any farther than sitting up with his hands in the air. "You should tell Kyouya that! Everyone likes to be told they're sexy. Maybe it'll cheer him up!"

Kaoru blinked slowly several times before he understood. "Yeah! C'mon! Let's get someone to drive us over there. Then we can tell him that he's smart and sexy. But will it make him feel better if he already knows? He can't not know. He's so smart. And sexy. Sexy sexy sexy."

Hikaru giggled and they went to get the driver. He was a little apprehensive about taking the drunk boys anywhere, but they were the bosses, so the driver didn't have a choice. A braver man might have refused, especially upon finding out that they wanted to go to the Ootori mansion. This driver, however, had seen what the twins did to employees who disobeyed them, and it wasn't pretty.

"You're such a good employee," Hikaru cooed, leaning up and wrapping his arms around the driver's neck.

"Let's give him a raise!" Kaoru purred, nuzzling the driver's right shoulder.

"Um, thank you very much, Mr. Hikaru and Mr. Kaoru, I really appreciate the gesture. But, er, could you please let me go? I can't concentrate on driving with you grabbing me like that."

They let go of him and cuddled together in the back seat. The man gulped loudly, aware of the gossip that said they were lovers, and told himself firmly to keep his eyes on the road and not on the twins tangled together in the rear-view mirror.

By the time they arrived at the Ootori household, the driver was a nervous wreck and the twins were sleepy. They stumbled out of the car while the driver held the door, slurred a thank you, and used each other for support as they made their way to the door.

The maid who answered the door intelligently didn't remark on the visitors' disheveled appearances, choosing, instead, to show them to Kyouya's room. She wondered if her boss' bad mood today was somehow related to the boys' visit. Kyouya had said that he didn't want to be disturbed, but she was hoping that the twins would cheer him up.

When they walked into Kyouya's room, the older boy glared at them, then at the maid who was already leaving. Although he hadn't taken to alcohol like the boys in front of him, he was still in no mood to be accepting guests.

"Kyouya!" Kaoru giggled happily. Kyouya was making his angry face, which, as it always seemed to lately, looked shiver-inducingly sexy. "Sexy sexy sexy," he sighed, making Kyouya stop his angry approach.

"Excuse me?" he asked.

"Oops! Did I say that out loud?" Kaoru looked to Hikaru, who was leaning against the doorframe in an attempt to stay upright while laughing. Hikaru nodded violently, before resting his head against the wall, still giggling.

"Why are you here?" He ended up sounding more tired than angry. This whole day had been difficult and he really didn't want to deal with the reason behind that.

"We wanted to come cheer you up," Hikaru said from his new position, sitting against the wall with his legs splayed in front of him.

"You seemed angry and sad. So we wanted to come tell you that you should cheer up because," then Kaoru was distracted by his waving hand again.

"Why did you think you should come cheer me up," Kyouya really tried to be patient.

"Oh! Right! Because I don't like it when you're sad. And because I made you sad. I didn't want to make you sad. I wanted to make you not sad. But you got angry. Your angry face is sexy, but I don't want you to be angry with me."

"Ah," Kyouya tried regain some of his eloquence after hearing Kaoru say, for the second time in as many minutes, that he was sexy., "so how did you think to cheer me up?"

"Huh?" Kaoru looked over to Hikaru for help, only to find his big brother snoring softly on the ground next to the bookshelf. "I was going to tell you that you're sexy. Being told you're sexy cheers people up, right? Even if they already know it? Because you should already know. You know, like, everything, so there's no way you didn't know you were sexy. Sexy sexy sexy..."

A silly smile worked its way to Kaoru's lips as he stared at Kyouya's face. His skin was so smooth and creamy, and his hair was delightfully disheveled. The mouth that looked capable of so many wicked things, however, was still not happy looking. Maybe a kiss would fix that.

Kaoru wrapped his arms around Kyouya's neck, sighed happily, and kissed him firmly on the mouth. It was a short kiss, positively chaste, but it made his insides warm pleasantly. He made another sleepy happy noise, moved his arms from Kyouya's neck to his waist, and snuggled his face into his chest.

Meanwhile, Kyouya looked shell-shocked. Logically, there was no way Kaoru would kiss him. There was certainly no way he was trying to hug Kyouya into being cheerful. And he'd kissed him. On the mouth. A kiss!

"What are you trying to do?" Kyouya refused to believe this was anything but a joke.

"Snuggle," Kaoru yawned, still rubbing his cheek against Kyouya's shirt, enjoying the softness of the fabric over the firmness of Kyouya. "I'm sleepy, Kyouya."

"And what am I supposed to do about it?" He didn't mean to snap, but Kaoru had surprised him, and Kyouya hated surprises.

"Tuck me in?" Kaoru ignored Kyouya's angry voice. He'd learned that angry Kyouya was usually confused Kyouya. Unless, of course, he was really angry Kyouya, but that sounded different.

Kyouya hesitated for a moment. He was still not happy with the twins and still wasn't sure if he should trust them, but it wouldn't do to let them leave in the state they were in. Guiding Kaoru gently to the bed, Kyouya pulled the covers back, laid Kaoru down, and pulled them over the boy.

"Where's Hikaru?" Kaoru blinked at Kyouya who was not going to admit how cute he looked. "I want Hikaru."

"Okay," Kyouya conceded, "I'll bring him over here. You stay there." He walked over to the older twin, pulled him up, and got him to the bed next to Kaoru. The two of them grabbed for each other, wrapping arms and legs together. When they were firmly entangled, they stopped and finally went to sleep.

Kyouya sighed, almost chuckling at the situation. Apparently he was going to be sleeping in the connecting guest room. He could have put the twins there, but that would have been more difficult than he felt like handling at the moment.

Not worrying about hiding his rueful smile, Kyouya walked over to his desk and continued working. There was no reason to leave the room yet, and he still had work to do. Besides, it didn't hurt that he could look over at Kaoru, who looked absolutely adorable cuddled with Hikaru, whenever he wanted.

* * *

Good? Bad? At least I got in a kiss already! And there will be more to come. Hopefully within the next couple chapters. I swear, when I started writing, it was supposed to be a one-shot with a lemon. And now we're on the 5th chapter with only a single drunken kiss to show for it. And it wasn't even steamy! Silly boys...less talking more making out!


	6. Chapter 6

Heh, so I finally updated! I meant to have this thing finished by Halloween, but that obviously didn't happen. I was busy with class things, and then I had writer's block. I'm moving the rating up this chapter. Still no lemon (sigh...), but there is some intense kissing. I just wanna say that I love kissing and get tired of reading "they kissed passionately," so my scenes are a bit more descriptive, heh heh. Hope you enjoy it!

* * *

When Kaoru opened his eyes the next morning, he immediately regretted it. He and Hikaru always forgot about drinking enough water to balance out their alcohol, which always came back to him in the form of the headache from hell.

"Kaoru, everything hurts," Hikaru whined next to him.

"Me too."

A dark chuckle at the foot of the bed, which they realized simultaneousy wasn't their own, made them jump and clutch onto each other. Kaoru couldn't remember where he was, what he'd done, or why he was able to fall asleep so easily in a strange place. Then the face registered.

"Kyouya! What're you doing here?"

"What do you mean? It's my house. Why wouldn't I be in my own house?"

The twins exchanged glances, eyes widening as they remembered the events of the night before. Kaoru shoved Hikaru over when the older twin started laughing.

"Not funny, Hikaru," Kaoru whined. "We are never drinking that much again."

Hikaru barked out a loud laugh, making both twins groan and hold their heads.

They looked up as they heard a shaking sound and saw Kyouya with some pain killers and a bottle of water.

"You're an angel," Kaoru murmured, taking them from him. He swallowed some water with his pills before passing them to his brother.

"So, uh, Kyouya, what did I say last night? Things are a tiny bit fuzzy. I think I'm remembering some things, but I may just be imagining them," Kaoru didn't say that he hoped he was imagining them. Especially the kiss part. The look Kyouya was giving him wasn't very reassuring.

"I can take the two of you home," Kyouya offered.

"Actually," Hikaru interrupted, "I just remembered that I promised Hunny I'd meet with him and Mori today. They wanted to figure out the rest of our costumes. You two can stay here and...well, you know." Hikaru winked before skipping down the stairs.

Kaoru sat in bed, wide eyed, unable to believe that his brother abandoned him like that.

"Hi-Hikaru?" he squeaked.

"He's quite crafty, isn't he?" Kyouya asked, approval in his eyes.

"I'm going to kill him," Kaoru moaned, burying his head in the covers. Hikaru was a dirty traitor.

"And it seems I'm going to owe him, which is rather unappealing. Or, we could always use this opportunity to get even," Kyouya's mouth wore an evil smirk.

"That's a brilliant idea," Kaoru grinned at him, "What did you have in mind?"

Kyouya chuckled, warming Kaoru's stomach pleasantly, before leaning in conspiratorially. Kaoru chuckled at his ideas, pleased at how evil they were and even more pleased at how close he and Kyouya were sitting. Sometimes Kyouya would brush his arm or chuckle close to his ear, and by the end of their planning, Kaoru's jeans, which he was still wearing from the night before, were rather uncomfortable.

As they got up to leave, Kyouya stopped abruptly, making Kaoru run into him. He turned around and grabbed Kaoru by the shoulders.

"Oh, and one more thing," he whispered, before leaning down and pressing his mouth to Kaoru's. For a moment, it was just pressure, lips to lips, and Kaoru forgot to breathe.

Then Kyouya moved his lips slightly, changing the pressure, and settling them firmly around Kaoru's bottom lip. He sucked slightly, then licked it with the tip of his tongue as they pulled apart.

Kaoru stared with wide eyes as Kyouya smirked down at him, face going scarlet. That was quite the kiss.

"All right, let's go," Kyouya said, acting as though nothing had happened.

The two of them waited in the Hitachiin house for Hikaru to get home. They'd set up several traps for him to fall into and warned all of the household staff. The maids had laughed at their tricks and blushed at Kyouya, all the while not mentioning how strange it was for the twins to be pulling tricks separately.

"I wish he'd hurry up already," Kaoru whined in a whisper. "I'm tired of waiting."

"Just wait," Kyouya was being unusually patient with him.

"But I'm boooored!" Kaoru shut his eyes and leaned into Kyouya's shoulder as he complained. Throughout the time they'd been setting up, Kaoru had taken whatever chance he got to touch his upperclassman. He knew that he was being obvious, but with the kiss earlier, he was sure he didn't have to worry about secrecy anymore.

If he'd had his eyes open, he would've seen the mischievous look on Kyouya's face.

"Well, we can't have you being bored, can we?" Kyouya's tone made Kaoru look up quickly. The look in Kyouya's eyes was unmistakable, as was the way he kept glancing at Kaoru's lips.

Kyouya's lips descended slowly. Kaoru's breath caught, and he tilted his head slightly.

Their lips met, slightly moist, softly applying pressure, releasing it, then applying it again. It started as just a meeting of lips, innocent yet exciting.

Then Kyouya started sucking on Kaoru's lower lip again. Kaoru returned the favor on Kyouya's upper lip. Release of pressure again.

The next time their lips met, Kaoru felt a moist brush from what could only be Kyouya's tongue. Pressure, release. Tongue again, brushing, but this time it met with Kaoru's. Time slowed, thinking abandoned them.

Lips locked together again, now open enough to allow the passage of tongues between. Back and forth, brushes, tastes, passed from mouth to mouth. Every moment of friction when tongue touched tongue made the boys pull closer, arms moving from shoulders and back to hair and hips. As the rhythm of mouths became more erratic and desperate, so did the hands.

Kaoru gasped against Kyouya's mouth as he felt the hand not rubbing against the side of his neck reach down and grab his ass, pulling his hips against Kyouya's. Hardness met hips, pulling needy noises from both.

Joining the dance of the mouths above, giving and taking, pressing and being pressed, hips also moved.

"Where is every-Aaaah!" A loud crash sounded from downstairs as Hikaru fell into their trap and they pulled apart quickly, chests heaving. "Hey! Who-crap! Dammit, ow! Eeep!"

Kaoru giggled nervously, blushing furiously, "I think Hikaru found our present."

"It would seem so," Kyouya didn't quite manage to look unaffected.

Hikaru stumbled up the stairs, glaring at them from under the sticky mess in his hair. His arms were nearly bound to his sides by brightly colored crepe paper, and his legs' movement were significantly limited from the ribbon encasing them.

"Bastards. What did I do to deserve...whoa. Hey Kaoru, you've got a little," Hikaru motioned to the corner of his mouth. Kaoru turned even more red, somehow, as he wiped away a bit of saliva. Kyouya looked smug.

"I'm gonna go take a shower. The two of you can keep making out if you like. Just don't get anything on the bed, okay?"

Kaoru glared halfheartedly at his brother as he passed.

"Weren't bored, though, were you?" Kyouya asked slyly.

Instead of answering, Kaoru hid his face and walked past Kyouya into his bedroom, closing the door behind him. Kyouya pressed a hand to the door and spoke through it.

"I'm going home now. Today was fun. See you tomorrow, Kaoru."

Licking his lips, still tasting Kyouya, Kaoru sighed happily and flung himself onto his bed.

* * *

So I've had the longer kissing scene written for AGES, but have just now gotten the excuse to use it. Anyway, if you have any criticism, or just wanna let me know what you thought, I love love love reviews (I've become a review whore, apparently [._.] ).

Also, I'm doing this in the library of a very conservative Baptist college. I'm so paranoid someone's gonna walk behind me and see my gay makeout scene and then condemn me to hell. Not that I care what they think, but that would be really embarrassing.


	7. Chapter 7

So, um, wow. This chapter is a little intense. It's late, so I don't have the energy to be mortified by it yet. But it has a lime, eep, and hopefully it is not terrible. Sex words are awkward and embarrassing to type. I have the lime marked within the story, so that those who don't wish to read it don't have to. You can still get the full story without it.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy.

EDIT: Apparently it was crap, since I didn't get any reviews on it. As a response, I am fixing it. Hopefully it's a little better this go-round.

* * *

Over the hum of the sewing machines that evening, Kaoru told Hikaru all about the day he'd shared with Kyouya. He'd initially wanted to yell at his brother for leaving him, but after the kisses he'd gotten that day, he ended up thanking him instead.

"I think I'm going to throw up," Hikaru mentioned after the third time Kaoru told him how Kyouya's kisses made him feel.

"Sorry," Kaoru laughed, "But he's just so amazing! And he-"

"Dear God! Shut up about him! And I really appreciate how you paid me back by pranking me. Real nice, that."

"Whatever, you know you'd do the same thing in my position. Besides, he was whispering his ideas into my ear and I was having trouble concentrating on anything else. You have to admit, it was an excellent prank."

Hikaru agreed grudgingly. They didn't say much after that, as happy with the quiet as they were with talking. By the end of the evening, both finished their own and their friends' costumes.

Halloween was just around the corner, and the Host Club was spending from 6-10PM with guests, and then from 10 until after midnight with just each other. Tamaki said that he wanted them to spend "family time" together, but the twins knew that he was just looking for an excuse to show a scary movie so he'd have a reason to cuddle with Haruhi.

Kaoru allowed himself to think about what it would be like to cuddle with Kyouya during a scary movie. The older boy wasn't likely to be scared, but Kaoru, thanks to his time in the Host Club with Hikaru, could fake fright fairly well. Kyouya would probably recognize it as faked, but he probably wouldn't mind.

"You're drooling," Hikaru informed him, looking annoyed.

"Hah, sorry," Kaoru wiped his mouth and grinned sheepishly. "He's just, well, anyway, he's a good kisser, I can tell you that."

"Yeah, I think I remember you mentioning something about it," Hikaru informed him drolly, batting his eyelashes at him.

"Jerk," Kaoru muttered, purposely loud enough for Hikaru to hear. The older twin just grinned back at him.

The brothers yawned simultaneously, then smiled sleepily at each other. After putting everything away, they clasped hands and went to their bedroom. They changed into their matching pajamas, turned off the light, and crawled into their bed, going to sleep with hands clasped.

When they woke up, the first thing Kaoru did was grin.

"Kyouya said he'd visit me today!"

Hikaru shoved him, "Shut up. I don't wanna hear about your boyfriend this early. And you should probably go to the shower to take care of that morning wood." Then he rolled over and buried his head under the down pillow.

Kaoru looked down and saw that he really did have a bit of a problem under his silky pajama bottoms. Most teenage boys would have been mortified to hear their brothers complaining about morning erections, but they had slept together their entire lives, and those things just happened. He jumped out of bed, making sure to bounce enough to disturb Hikaru, and went to the bathroom to take a shower.

[LIME WARNING]  
At first, he made the water temperature cool, hoping for his problem to go away by itself. Then, as he reminded himself excitedly that Kyouya was coming over later, his problem informed him that it, too, was excited for the visit. Kaoru thought about it for a few moments, conscience warring with desire, before, as tends to happen with teenage boys, desire won. He told himself not to feel guilty as he turned the water temperature up and reached down.

To his credit, he tried not to think of anything as he began, hand moving up and down slowly, pausing occassionally to rub at the sensitive skin of the head. He tried to keep his thoughts on nothing but the feel of water slick hand over warm skin, but Kyouya's face appeared in his mind unbidden, and the flesh within his hand pulsed. Biting his lip, he allowed the memories of the day before to roll through his mind.

Waking up to Kyouya had been pleasant, but it would've been more pleasant to sleep beside him. Kaoru hoped for the chance to do that at some point in the future. Doing that and everything that came before falling asleep-passing out, the deviant side of his brain suggested. He shivered under the warm stream of water at the images that thought produced. His left hand skimmed over his slim stomach, caressing, before reaching his nipple, tugging and rubbing.

One thing was sure, Kyouya sure knew how to kiss. Kaoru recalled with sudden clarity exactly how Kyouya's tongue had felt against his own. He pumped his hand faster, then rolled the pink tip carefully between thumb and forefinger, imagining how that wicked tongue would feel there.

Stifling a groan, he also recalled how Kyouya's mouth had tasted inside, like spices and darkness. Then, as he squeezed tighter, he wondered what Kyouya's body would taste, and his cock. His hand left his shaft to cup his scrotum, squeezing gently, rubbing, caressing. He wondered if Kyouya would taste spicy when he came, or if it would taste sweet. A whimper escaped his lips and his imagination kept supplying images, and his right hand returned to clutch his shaft.

Kaoru didn't have any doubts who would be playing what role in an intimate encounter, so his mind wandered to what it would feel like, to have something inside of him. In a moment of curiosity, he reached over to the body wash, coated his hands liberally, and reached behind himself with his left hand. His right returned to its former job, making his head fall back with the slickness. The left reached behind and slid between round cheeks. Carefully, he began to prod at the opening there, fingers circling, pressing slightly. Finally, he slid his middle finger inside, slowly, cautiously, until the position became uncomfortable. The feeling was odd, but not bad.

He began to move the finger, in then out then in, as he continuted to move his right hand, up then down then up. Pleasure began to intensify, and his imagination provided a tantalizing image of Kyouya behind him with a hand wrapped around, making Kaoru feel this good and better. His teeth clenched together and his eyes squeezed shut as he came.  
[END LIME]

The shower washed away all the evidence and Kaoru stood panting, leaning on his arm against the wall. When he finished cleaning up and drying off, he realized he'd forgotten to grab a change of clothes.

Shrugging, he walked into the bedroom to get dressed.

"You're an idiot," Hikaru informed him, still under the covers.

"Whatever." Kaoru stood in their closet naked, going over all the options he had for clothes. He wanted to look good for Kyouya, after all, and so he was picking very carefully.

Sounds of movement came from the bedroom, and Kaoru suspected that Hikaru was finally getting out of bed and going to take his shower now. When he picked out the clothes for the day, he bent over to find his lucky polka-dot briefs. Maybe he'd get lucky with them.

The door behind him opened, and he told his brother he'd be out shortly.

"I'll let Hikaru know," a strangled voice behind him said.

Standing abruptly, Kaoru whirled around. "K-Kyouya?" He tried very hard, and failed, at keeping his voice from squeaking before covering up the essential bits with the underwear. It didn't work very well.

Hikaru cackled from the bedroom.

"I'm going to kill you!" Kaoru yelled, face turning an impressive shade of red. His upperclassman's eyes were wide and stared at Kaoru's body, taking it in slowly, unable to do anything else. "Kyouya! Get out! Get out!" Surprisingly, Kyouya did as he was told and Kaoru managed to get dressed in record time.

When he mustered the courage to go into the bedroom, he heard the shower and didn't see Hikaru. The coward, it seemed, was hiding from his retribution. Someone he did see, however, was Kyouya.

"Sorry about that," the older boy said, voice back to normal, "I honestly didn't realize you weren't dressed. Hikaru simply told me to look for you in the closet."

"It's not a problem. I'll survive my embarrassment." Hopefully the hoodie he wore was long enough to hide his happy little problem, which only grew when he tried very hard and failed not to think about all of the images he had conjured while jerking off to Kyouya in the shower.

"If you say so," he laughed awkwardly, something Kaoru didn't think Kyouya could do. "Although, to be honest, the view was quite breathtaking." Kyouya's glasses glinted dangerously, almost but not quite hiding his own embarrassment.

"Oh?" Kaoru wished he sounded more seductive and less squeaky. "Really?"

"Oh, really," Kyouya practically purred, stepping closer.

Kyouya traced Kaoru's jawline, pulling his chin up. He licked his lips, which made Kaoru lick his, too. Then he leaned down and gave Kaoru a feather-light kiss on the mouth before pulling farther away. Kaoru blinked, disappointed, and licked his lips again.

"What the hell, guys?" Hikaru towelled off his hair as he walked out of the closet, having taken the doorway that connected through the bathroom. "Did you forget that I would be coming back? Geez, have a little compassion on my poor mind!"

Kaoru realized that Kyouya had seen Hikaru coming out of the closet. Then he giggled.

"You just came out of the closet, Hikaru," he knew it was a stupid joke, but right now it struck him as particularly funny. The hilarity of the situation probably had something to do with the extreme sexual tension, which would probably not be resolved for at least another day.

"Today's gonna be a long day," Hikaru sighed to himself. Kaoru agreed silently. But the torture of the long day was likely to be quite pleasant, so he almost didn't mind. Almost.

* * *

So there it is. I'm a little embarrassed still, but hopefully ya'll like it. I'm gonna go to sleep now.

EDIT: Hopefully it's better this time around.


	8. Chapter 8

Hey guys! Sorry this has taken so long. It's finals week, here at my jolly old university, so I've been really busy. Strangely enough, I have more free time this week than I did last week. That probably has something to do with the enormous projects I had due last week. Anyway, I should be posting another chapter in a few hours. It was going to be part of this chapter, then I realized how long it was, and figured I'd break it up. This also means that I'm definitely posting something now, just in case something happens and I don't finish the scene I'm working on.

For some reason, the driver from before demanded that I give him a name and some more story time, so he's in there. I actually like him quite a bit. I may try to include him in a future chapter. I am not making any more promises about how long this will be-I have no idea. I already feel silly enough writing a Halloween story at Christmas time, but I WILL FINISH, DANGIT!

Anyway, enjoy!

* * *

"So what are we doing today?" Kaoru looked at Hikaru expectantly. Hikaru had planned something with Hunny and Mori the day before, and the older boys were inviting Tamaki and Haruhi, so the twins couldn't just hang out and pull stupid pranks on people. Kaoru wondered if maybe spending so much time with Kyouya was making Hikaru feel lonely, so he didn't protest.

"Well, the last time I was with Hunny and Mori we talked about other American Halloween traditions. One of them is "pumpkin carving," and it sounded fun. You take the guts out of a large orange gourd, then you carve something pretty into the side of it. We have pictures and instructions."

"I've heard of this practice," Kyouya adjusted his glasses, "In the past, we considered carving pumpkins with the Host Club, but then we decided it would be too messy to expose the ladies to the innards of the pumpkins. Doing it with the club should be fun, though. We will need to wear clothes that can withstand the mess of the project."

Kaoru and Hikaru looked at each other. Then they sighed deeply before heading back into the closet again.

They emerged dressed alike but in different colors. Kyouya shook his head and smirked when he saw them in their shirts that had paint splattered a little too artfully on them to be accidental. He wasn't planning on changing-anything he changed into would be just as expensive to replace as his current outfit.

The trio decided to take the Hitachiin car, and the driver was the same as the one who drove them to the Ootori mansion two nights before. He wasn't sure whether or not to be happy when they remembered him.

"You! You're the one from before!" Hikaru grinned at him.

"He's great," Kaoru told Kyouya, "He's the one who drove us to your house the other day." He latched onto Kyouya's arm and rubbed his cheek against it. That night had been partly responsible for the way things now stood between him and Kyouya.

"Then I am indebted to you," Kyouya said, nodding at the overwhelmed man. "What's your name?"

"H-Hibiki Hansuke," the man stammered. He'd heard about Ootori Kyouya and how merciless he could be. Even though it seemed like the black-haired boy was pleased, one could never know.

"Well, Mr. Hibiki, thank you for taking care of my friends. If you are ever in need of a good hospital, please visit one of my family's. Show the people there this card, and you will receive priority treatment, free of charge." Kyouya handed a business card to the driver.

"Thank you, Mr. Kyouya," Hansuke examined the card politely before carefully placing it in his wallet. As they drove to the Morinozuku mansion, he tried not to be caught as he watched the teens.

This time, the twins did not sit next to each other. Instead, Kaoru sat next to the Ootori, and Hikaru sat across. Unfortunately for his curiosity, Hikaru was sitting in the seat facing forward, so Hansuke couldn't see what it was that made the older twin make such strange faces.

Of course, it was lucky for everyone in the car that the driver couldn't see, because Kaoru and Kyouya were sitting as close as they could, brushing thighs and shoulders at the slightest provocation, with hands clasped happily together. If poor Hansuke had seen this, he might have accidentally driven the limousine off the road.

Hansuke did catch a glimpse of some sort of odd affection between the Ootori boy and Kaoru when he opened the door for them and Kyouya unnecessarily grabbed Kaoru's hand to help him out. Then, he 'steadied' the youngest there by holding onto Kaoru's slim waist. Hansuke convinced himself he was imagining things, bowed to his bosses, and drove off.

Inside the mansion, the other Host Club members had already spread out drop cloths and gotten out their knives and other pumpkin-carving tools. When the final three arrived, Hunny, Mori, and Hikaru explained the process of carving pumpkins. Hunny seemed especially excited about the prospect of cooking the seeds with cinnamon-sugar.

After they opened the first pumpkin, the twins were less sure of the activity. The inside looked sticky and very orange. Haruhi, as practical as always, reached in and began pulling the gunk out of the gourd. Hikaru's nose wrinkled.

"Why don't we get the servants to empty them for us?" He suggested.

"No!" Tamaki jumped up, "We have to do this the same way American commoners do it. It's not that sticky, is it Haruhi?" Despite his insistence, he looked a little unsure.

"It's pretty sticky," she said, still methodically emptying the pumpkin of its guts. "And it smells funny. And squishy. But it's not that bad," she allowed, finally noticing the looks her friends and boyfriend were giving her.

"Maybe Hikaru is right," Tamaki began.

"You were so excited about this before," Kyouya reminded him, "Are you afraid of getting a little dirty? That's not very masculine, is it Haruhu?" The tomboy just blinked at him, confused as to why Kyouya was asking her, of all people. Tamaki began to flail in denial.

"I am masculine! I'll show you, Haruhi, how masculine I am. See! I'm not afraid of pumpkin guts at all." He began joining her in removing the slime. In his vigor, however, he began to splatter the orange substance everywhere.

"Good idea, Tamaki!" Hunny smiled pleasantly, "This will go so much faster if we work in groups. But Takashi and I aren't very artistic. Will you help us, Hikaru?"

"Sure, Hunny," Hikaru didn't understand why Hunny needed him, but he was willing to let Kaoru and Kyouya work together. He was happy that Kaoru was finally working to get what he wanted.

"So that means Tamaki and Haruhi will carve one pumpkin, Hunny, Mori, and Hikaru will carve another, and Kaoru and I will carve the final one. We can let the customers bid on the pumpkins, and whichever one sells for more, that team will have three days off from the Host Club." Kyouya offered them his smile, and everyone but Kaoru paled. Kaoru thought the smile was deliciously mischievous.

As they were elbow deep in pumpkin goop, Kaoru asked Kyouya why he offered that deal.

"Won't that mean losing business for the club?"

"Nonsense. The revenue from selling the pumpkins will more than make up for that lost during those days. If I didn't offer a reward, then they wouldn't put real effort into carving. Besides, if we win, then we can spend the three afternoons off together."

Kaoru looked over at Kyouya quickly, before averting his gaze and blushing. The situation between him and Kyouya was still a little unnerving.

Then he realized-he still hadn't confessed to Kyouya.

His hands stilled in the pumpkin as the thought hit him. After all of those kisses, he still hadn't confessed. He realized, of course, that Kyouya hadn't confessed to him either, but he didn't mind. Besides, this would give him the opportunity to plan the perfect scene to confess.

He jumped when Kyouya grabbed his hands and squeezed questioningly. Kaoru smiled shyly and continued emptying the pumpkin.

Once all three pumpkins were emptied, the groups gathered together again to watch Mori demonstrate on his group's pumpkin how to carve into it. Hikaru and Kaoru wondered aloud how safe it was to give Tamaki sharp objects.

"Fortunately," Kyouya cut into Tamaki's loud protestations, "Haruhi is familiar with using a knife, so she will be able to protect him somewhat."

"Mommy! You're so mean!" Tamaki cried, retreating into his corner of woe. Mori looked worriedly at the mushroom the boy was growing in his home.

"Idiot," Haruhi breathed, softly enough that Tamaki couldn't hear her.

Everyone went back to their own pumpkins, taking care that the others couldn't see what they were carving.

"So what are we going to carve, Kyouya?"

"Well, traditionally people carve scary faces into the lanterns, but for our clientele, I think we should go for something that is either pretty or cute."

"Hunny is probably going to carve something cute," Kaoru pointed out, "so something pretty? Hmmm..." He stared at the orange gourd, searching for inspiration on its ridged surface. Then his face brightened.

"Got something?" Kyouya's gaze hadn't left Kaoru's face.

"Do I ever," Kaoru said, grinning at Kyouya. Kyouya looked around to make sure they weren't seen before ducking in and tenderly kissing Kaoru's mouth. The younger boy's eyes fluttered closed in the soft embrace, staying that way a few moments after Kyouya lifted his head.

"W-what was that for?" Kaoru touched his own soft smile.

"Nothing," Kyouya looked smug, "I just felt like it."

Kaoru tried to ignore the fluttering in his stomach as he delineated his plan to Kyouya. They could carve a beautiful princess surrounded by flowers. The princess, however, would be silhouetted, so that whichever girl bought it could imagine that the carving was of her.

"It's good, right?" Kaoru looked at Kyouya worriedly. The expression was eased by a pale hand smoothing over his hair.

"It's very good," Kyouya assured him. "But I have something to add. For the flowers, why don't we carve seven of them? Each one will represent a different member of the club. Tamaki's will, of course be a rose. Hunny's will be something innocent, like a daisy. And so forth."

"You're amazing," Kaoru informed him. He handed his upperclassman a pencil and piece of paper. "Here, draw it out on this and then we'll use this to carve the pumpkin." Their eyes met and both smiled.

After several hours, all three groups finished their pumpkins. The results were all impressive. They turned off the lights during the showing of each one, so that the artificial candle inside could best display the artwork.

As expected, the team of three had a pumpkin that screamed cuteness. The carving was of a bunny, a kitty, and a chick playing together under a happy tree. Hunny, in particular, looked pleased with it.

Tamaki, who was sporting a band-aid on his finger, brought out his and Haruhi's pumpkin next. This pumpkin had a cornucopia carved into it, with all kinds of western foods pouring from it. Haruhi was drooling a bit at the sight of so much food, and Tamaki looked proud to have made her happy.

Finally, Kyouya and Kaoru brought out their pumpkin. It was intricately carved, some places left so as to allow just a small glow of light to shine through, contrasting with the fully carved out portions. The sillhouette of a princess shone in the middle, dressed in what could only be the Ouran uniform dress. Seven flowers framed her.

"The rose represents Tamaki, as it is his signature flower," Kyouya began, pointing to each flower as he mentioned it. "The daisy is, of course, Hunny, representing innocence. Mori's flower the gladiolus here, which represents strength. Carnations are common flowers, but hardy and lovely ones, so we chose this to represent Haruhi." She glared at him, muttering some insult about the wealthy under her breath. "Mine is the crocus, which can represent foresight. And the twins are the two orchid blossoms coming from the same stem. These flowers are rarely seen alone and can represent love and artful splendor."

"We might have gone a little overboard," Kaoru laughed, seeing everyone's overwhelmed expressions. "Kyouya is quite the artist."

"You seem determined to win your own competition, Kyoua. Why is that, I wonder," Haruhi mused to herself, looking at Kyouya interestedly. Hunny and Mori just grinned, knowing from before what was going on.

"What? Does Mommy want to abandon us? Is this the influence of those devilish twins?" Tamaki ran over to Kyouya and threw his arms around him. Kaoru tried very hard not to feel posessive, but that was his Kyouya, dammit. Stupid Tamaki should be hugging Haruhi, not Kyouya.

Haruhi caught everyone's attention when she gasped. Her eyes were wide as she looked between Kyouya and Kaoru. "Oh," was all she said, before blinking one more time, breathing deeply, and going back to normal.

"What? What does that mean? What's going on here?" Tamaki demanded, looking around at everyone.

"It's not my place to tell," Haruhi informed him, turning on the room lights and turning off the battery-powered candles in the pumpkins. Tamaki sulked before going back to Kyouya and begging.

"I'll tell you only if you promise not to be unreasonable." Kyouya's glasses glinted dangerously.

"Me? I'm never unreasonable!" The twins pretended to hide their snorts of disbelief.

"Are you okay with me telling him, Kaoru?" Uncertainty looked strange on Kyouya, and Kaoru felt a bubble of happiness rise inside him at the thought that Kyouya's uncertainty was because of him.

"It's fine. I mean, I don't mind at all. But only if you don't mind. If you don't want to tell him, you don't have to. And I won't tell anyone unless you want me to. But sometimes it's hard not to, especially when stupid Tono is hanging all over the guy I like and I want to tell him to stop because I like you, not him and I'm the one you've been kissing and he should leave you the hell alone. And..." Kaoru trailed off, just realizing how much he'd said in his nervous rant. Tamaki's eyes were impossibly wide and his mouth gaped.

"Mommy? You've been kissing Kaoru? But, but..." Tamaki didn't know whether he should be angry at Kyouya for kissing one of the children, or at Kaoru for kissing Mommy. He looked over to Haruhi for help. Haruhi just patted his arm before grabbing it and dragged him out of the room, presumably to explain that sometimes boys liked other boys and that was okay.

"We're leaving too," Hikaru informed the blushing pair, waving as he left with the university students.

* * *

Up next, you'll be able to read about Kyouya's reaction to Kaoru's little confession. I hope it's alright...kissing scenes make me nervous, but I love reading them, so I figure I should give others kisses to read as well!

As always, reviews will make me giddy for 12 hours, so if you feel like leaving a comment about the scene, the ridiculousness of the pumpkins (I do realize they're ridiculous, but my brain's in a weird place this week), or even some constructive criticism, I'd love to read it. Writing Kyouya in love is hard-he's so dern stoic.


	9. Chapter 9

Woo! Managed to finish this scene fairly quickly. And I still have some time to study for my finals tonight.

Hopefully posting two chapters in quick succession will make up for the long chapterless period of time. This chapter is mostly Kyouya and Kaoru making out and then being disgustingly sweet with each other.

Thanks to Lovers Revenge for reviewing so quickly. I'm still grinning and bouncing in my seat from your comments.

* * *

"Sorry Kyouya," Kaoru mumbled, refusing to look up from his shoes.

"Oh, it's fine. I can't exactly complain about finally hearing your confession, can I?" Kyouya was stealing glances of Kaoru's flushed face, downcast eyes, and vulnerable stance. He looked deliciously attractive. And everyone else was gone for the afternoon, meaning he had Kaoru all to himself. He leered at that thought before stepping into Kaoru's personal space.

As the other boy entered his line of sight, Kaoru looked up and into Kyouya's hungry eyes, still blushing but glad that he'd finally confessed. Then he glanced down at those lips he was quickly becoming addicted to, licking his own in anticipation. A murmur of approval escaped Kyouya's throat as he leaned down and slowly, evilly, licked the line between Kaoru's lips.

In response, Kaoru opened his mouth, disappointed when the lovely tongue was gone. He wrapped his arms around Kyouya's neck and pulled him closer, leaning up to bite the plump lower lip, worrying it carefully between his white teeth, licking it with the tip of his tongue.

Kyouya suppressed a groan at the feeling and reached up to caress the soft column of Kaoru's throat with his left hand, sneaking it beneath the collar of the paint-splattered t-shirt. When that didn't make the younger boy release his hold, he used his right hand to skim over Kaoru's chest, pausing to rub a curious thumb over the nub of Kaoru's left nipple.

That made Kaoru gasp, let go of Kyouya's lip, and throw his head back. Chuckling in triumph, Kyouya moved his left hand into auburn hair, positioning Kaoru's head at just the right angle to plunder his mouth. Kaoru whimpered as he felt the hot tongue slide against his own, stroking back with just as much want.

His hands, which had still been resting behind Kyouya's neck, moved to caress the fine back of his upperclassman. He adored the broad shoulders, the dip under his shoulder-blades, the indentation of his spine. Cloth rumpled under his fingertips, only to be smoothed again moments later.

Similarly, Kyouya's hands roamed over Kaoru, but his did not restrain themselves. The left hand resumed its place on Kaoru's throat with fingertips brushing into fine auburn hair, loving the way the muscles played under his palm as the boy kissed. His right hand explored the planes of Kaoru's back, the slender lines of his waist, and the soft texture of his ribs. Then, his fingers returned to the nipple, pinching this time, before rubbing soothingly.

Kaoru made a small noise in the back of his throat, leaning into the touch. His eagerness made Kyouya lose some of his patience, and the taller boy separated their mouths. Kaoru began to protest until Kyouya reached down and pulled Kaoru's t-shirt off, before kissing him, mouth already open, and returning his hands to their previous positions.

The feel of Kaoru's skin was divine, smooth and soft and warm. It made Kyouya want to do wicked things, and he saw no reason not to follow those desires. He slid his thigh between Kaoru's legs, pressing it against the tent in the designer jeans.

Tossing his head back, Kaoru didn't even try to suppress his groan this time. Kyouya took advantage Kaoru's exposed throat and began pressing wet kisses to it, beginning at the hard edge of his jaw, pausing below his ear, licking a stripe down to where neck and shoulder meet. There, he opened his mouth, grazed his teeth lightly, and then sucked gently.

Kaoru moaned again, unwittingly bucking his hips against Kyouya's firm thigh. Everything was warm and pleasantly unclear. He alternated between gasps and whines, desperate for more. Kyouya, similarly, felt as though the room was about to combust. Every noise Kaoru made and every time he pressed his erection into Kyouya's thigh made Kyouya more and more desperate.

Both were far too caught up in each other to notice the sound of the door opening.

"Aaaah!"

They jerked apart, both faces reddening from embarrassment, and turned just in time to see Satoshi trip over his own feet in his haste to escape. The poor boy's face was also red, and his eyes were screwed shut, as though he was hoping to unsee what he had just witnessed.

"Satoshi? Are you alright?" Mori rushed into the room and almost succeeded in hiding his own blush at seeing the state Kyouya and Kaoru were in.

"I'm so sorry," Kaoru hastily pulled on his t-shirt. Then he hid his face behind his hands. "We weren't expecting anyone else to come back in here," he offered as a weak explanation.

"Somehow," Hikaru interjected from the doorway, "I don't think either of you were thinking about anyone else at all." He looked more amused than anything. Mori's blush intensified.

"Poor Satoshi," Hunny giggled, patting his younger cousin on the head, a feat which was only possible due to Satoshi's continued position on the floor.

"I think I'm gonna go...gonna go somewhere...yeah," Satoshi pulled himself back into a standing position and retreated.

"Well, since he was going to clean up in here, I guess that task falls to the two of you," Hikaru mused, grinning at them. His grin faded a little under the force of Kyouya's glare.

"It's only fair, Kyouya," Hunny told him, assuming, as he did on occasion, a position of authority.

"Trash is in that closet," Mori said, avoiding their gazes and motioning towards the corner of the room.

"Fine. We'll clean up in here. I apologize for any trauma done to your younger brother," Kyouya was businesslike as usual. Mori just shrugged, still not looking at them, before following Hunny out of the room. Hunny leaped onto Mori's back and whispered something into his cousin's ear, making the tallest Host turn red. Hunny laughed.

After Hikaru closed the door behind him as he left, Kaoru sunk to the ground, face buried in his hands.

"I'm so embarrassed! I can't believe that Satoshi, of all people, walked in on us. The poor kid's probably scarred for life now! I want to die."

"Don't worry," Kyouya said, "I'm sure he'll get over it. Who knows, maybe this will be what it takes to get him to finally do something about his feelings for Haninozuka Yasuchika." He smirked.

"Really?" Kaoru looked up, still in a heap, "Yasuchika? Huh." He thought about it, then laughed.

"Better?" Kyouya looked down on him, hand extended. Kaoru took it and allowed Kyouya to pull him close.

"Much," he answered, enjoying the feeling of Kyouya's arms around him. They stood like that a few moments before separating and beginning to clean.

After wrapping all of the pumpkin goo in the newspaper it sat on, figuring that Hunny lost all desire to bake the seeds after Satoshi's surprise, they threw it in the large trashcan in the closet.

"Doesn't Mori have servants to do this?" Kaoru complained, looking distastefully at the orange strings clinging to him.

"Theirs is a more utilitarian family," Kyouya explained. Then he pulled two individually wrapped hand sanitizing cloths from his pocket. "They try to do things on their own."

Kaoru 'hmm'd' in response and thanked Kyouya for the wipe. He didn't understand it, but he supposed he could respect it.

"Now what?" Kaoru asked, hoping that they could make out some more.

"Sadly, I have some work to do now. Then I have to finish my homework for the weekend." Kyouya held his hand out for Kaoru to grab. Kaoru did, but he still looked a little disappointed.

"So I guess that means I'll see you at school tomorrow?" Kaoru looked at his shoes. They were a little dirty.

"Yes. And we'll have the auction tomorrow at club, then we'll have the next three afternoons to spend together. Then it will be Friday already and we'll celebrate Halloween," he pulled Kaoru into another hug.

"You sound pretty confident," Kaoru commented, rubbing his face against Kyouya's chest. Kyouya's scent could still be detected under the smell of pumpkins.

"Of course. Why else would I have engineered such a competition? I deserve some time off. Tamaki will be too busy with the extra guests to cause any real damage, I have complete confidence in Haruhi's abilities, and Hikaru will be able to attract even more customers by acting distraught over your absence." His fingers found their way into Kaoru's hair, combing it gently. Then he sighed deeply, pulled back, pressed a firm, chaste kiss to Kaoru's lips, and separated himself completely.

"I really have to go now. See you tomorrow," Kyouya obviously wanted to stay, and that made Kaoru feel better.

"See you tomorrow, Kyouya," Kaoru smiled at him.

"Oh, and if you're going to spend the afternoon with Hikaru, Hunny, and Mori, I suggest you make sure Hunny is in the room before barging in," Kyouya advised.

"Why?"

"I wonder," Kyouya answered, grinning in that omniscient way of his.

* * *

Um, so I'm sorta foreshadowing something. It's not going to be a major thing, but as soon as I thought about it, it was too cute to resist. I will probably write a full-out fic for it later. Well, maybe. After the one-shot (hopefully) plot-bunny that evil Ms. Yaoi Princess aka Swisheh has planted in my head.

Also, I love making things as awkward as possible for characters. I was originally going to have Mori interrupt, but then Satoshi popped into my head and the idea was too evil to resist.

I hope you like it!


	10. Chapter 10

Hello again! Well, here's the next chapter. I'm legitimately going to try to wrap it up in 2 or 3 more chapters. I feel silly enough writing a Halloween-themed story at Christmastime. I hope everyone enjoys it.

* * *

Kaoru sighed as he walked upstairs to Mori's room. Remembering what Kyouya told him, he knocked on the door before entering.

"Come in," Hunny sang. When Kaoru opened the door, Mori and Hikaru both sat on the bed. Hikaru was talking as much as he usually did while Mori just sat and listened. Hunny occupied himself with the large strawberry and chocolate cake sitting on a table.

Hikaru smiled over at Kaoru when he entered, still chattering away happily. Kaoru was glad to see Hikaru so happy, but Kyouya's words made his suspicious. Not of Hikaru's happiness, but of why he was so happy. He narrowed his eyes, watching closely. Mori carefully didn't stare at the older twin but couldn't keep himself from a small smile. Hikaru wasn't as successful in not staring, but he did try. His cheeks flushed just slightly and he was a little short on breath.

Kaoru gasped in realization, making Hikaru look at him. Kaoru raised both eyebrows at Hikaru and quirked his mouth, letting him know that he knew. Hikaru half-shrugged and smiled with embarrassment before looking sharply to the side, telling him they'd talk about it later. Their eyes locked, and Kaoru could tell that Hikaru wasn't exactly sure what was going on, but that he was truly happy.

After spending the rest of the day with Hunny and Mori, Kaoru was full of cake and questions. Hikaru was practically giddy when they left. Kaoru couldn't believe his cheeks weren't hurting at this point from smiling so much. They left in their car, driven by their favorite driver.

"Hibiki!" Both twins greeted him enthusiastically. They each latched onto an arm as they interrogated him about what he'd been doing since that afternoon. Neither seemed too frustrated when he wasn't able to answer beyond a stammer. On the way back they continued to talk to him, but he was able to answer coherently when they were in the back seat and he was in the front. In the ten minutes it took them to get home, they learned about his family, his education, and his employment with them.

"Thanks Hibiki!" He smiled at them as they went inside. They weren't so bad once he got to know them a little better.

Once they got to their room and closed the door, Kaoru whipped around and pressed a finger into Hikaru's chest.

"So," he accused, "Mori?" Kaoru gaped when Hikaru blushed.

"There's nothing going on," Hikaru told him, disappointed, "We just hang out. He lets me play with Piyo-chan sometimes. And sometimes he lets me sit in his meditation room to just think things out when I'm having problems. But when we were working on Bun-Bun's costume the other day, he was sleepy. And I noticed how adorable he is when he's sleepy. And then I started noticing that I like how he's really tall and how I think his spiky black hair looks cool and stuff like that. I don't think it's going to go anywhere, but I just like hanging out with him, you know?"

"This sounds familiar," Kaoru drawled, "I distinctly remember you telling me that attitude was unacceptable when I felt the same way about Kyouya. So let's make a plan or something to get you and Mori together! It'll be great. We can try to get Hunny in on it too, since he'd probably be happy to see his cousin with someone. And then-"

"No, it's fine. Really," Hikaru insisted. "I don't want to rush things."

"Oh, but you were perfectly fine with me rushing things with Kyouya?"

"What, so you're not happy with the way things are now?"

"Well," Kaoru floundered, "Yes I'm happy, but I want you to be happy too. I'm afraid you'll feel left out or something if I'm off doing stuff with Kyouya and not with you. I want you to have someone to do stuff with too." Their eyes met, and they both smiled softly. Hikaru did understand.

"'Stuff' huh?" Hikaru asked wickedly. "I didn't know you were to the point of 'stuff' with Kyouya already."

"We're not! Wait, that's not what I meant. You know what I meant." Kaoru glared half-heartedly at his brother.

"Of course I know what you meant, but I was just checking. That was a rather intense make-out Satoshi interrupted. I had to make sure Kyouya wasn't defiling my sweet little brother." Hikaru wrapped Kaoru into a loose hug, which Kaoru returned.

"So you really don't want any help with Mori?" Kaoru tilted his head in an effort to convince Hikaru.

"Really. Thanks, though. It's weird, isn't it? First we both like Haruhi, and now we both like guys." Hikaru laughed.

"Yeah. I mean, we should have pretty similar tastes, being twins and all. But Kyouya is evil a lot of the time, and Mori is never evil."

"Yeah," Hikaru conceded, "And Mori would never use the things he knows against someone, while Kyouya is constantly thinking of ways to use his knowledge to his advantage."

"Maybe," Kaoru shrugged. "But you know, they're both pretty good about noticing things."

"Yeah. And they're both tall."

"And have black hair."

"And dark eyes."

"And don't talk much."

"And take care of their best friends."

The twins looked at each other for a moment in silence.

"At least we know we still have similar tastes," Hikaru shrugged happily before changing into his pajamas.

"True. It's comforting to know that we can both find people who are similar enough for our similarities, but different enough to account for our differences." Kaoru also changed out of his 'work' clothes.

When they were in their matching sleep pants and tank tops, they both hopped onto the bed and curled together under the covers. A question began forming in Kaoru's mind, but he didn't know if he could ask it without blushing.

"What?" Hikaru poked Kaoru in the ribs.

"What do you mean 'what?'" Kaoru feigned innocence.

"Something's bothering you. Neither one of us will be able to sleep until you get it out. You know that."

"Fine," Kaoru sighed, "But it's embarrassing."

"Hey, I'm your brother. You don't have to be embarrassed about anything with me."

"Okay. Alright," Kaoru took a deep breath. "Do you ever think of Mori when you're...you know..." He hoped Hikaru would get it.

"When I'm what? Walking? In class? When?" His confusion wasn't feigned.

"When you're, um, taking care of business?" Kaoru could tell that Hikaru still didn't get it. "When you're shaking hands with the bishop?"

"Shaking hands with who?"

"Choking the chicken?"

"You're not making any sense, Kaoru."

"Dammit, Hikaru," he muttered, "You know," his voice lowered to a whisper,  
"jerking off."

"Oh!" Hikaru flinched. Then his face got hot. Then he shook his head. "NO! Of course not. Mori's so...so...you know. And if I were to think of him while I was...well, it just wouldn't seem right." He paused a moment. "Wait, so do you think of Kyouya when you're, what did you say, 'choking the bishop?'"

"It's 'shaking hands with the bishop,' and only a couple times. And it wasn't on purpose! It just...happened. And I was wondering if you did it too. But I guess Mori's not really the kind of guy you could have dirty thoughts about." Kaoru turned around so he wasn't facing Hikaru anymore. He was sure his face would erupt into flames any second.

"Hey! What do you mean by that? Are you saying Mori's not as good as Kyouya?"

"No, I'm just saying he's purer of heart. More like Haruhi in that sense. It never even crossed my mind to think of her when...yeah." Kaoru wished he'd never brought the subject up.

"Really? Not once?" Hikaru's reply made Kaoru turn back around.

"You didn't! Our Haruhi?"

"Just once. To see what it was like. I didn't really like it, so I never did it again. But I'd heard other guys talking about it and it made me curious."

"Wow," Kaoru's mind reeled with that revelation. Then he shook his head. "Well, I don't suggest trying it with Mori. It makes facing him really really embarrassing the next time you see him."

"I'm so glad it's dark in here," Hikaru said.

"Me too," Kaoru agreed. "Good night."

"G'night."

The next day, school went as usual. The auction was set for the afternoon during Club hours. Kaoru really wanted to win so he could spend the next few afternoons alone with Kyouya, but he also wanted Hikaru to win so he could make some progress with Mori.

When he arrived at the club room a little early, he noticed that Hunny and Mori were also there. Hikaru had gone to the bathroom, and Kaoru wasn't one to turn down an opportunity like that.

"Hunny, could I talk to you for a minute?" He hoped he wouldn't arouse Mori's suspicions too much.

"What is it, Kao?" Hunny asked once they were secluded in a corner of the room.

"What does Mori think of Hikaru?" Kaoru figured there was no point in beating around any bushes.

Hunny looked a little surprised at the direct question before a sly grin graced his small features. "I promised I wouldn't say anything, but I can tell you that he thinks about him more often than he'd like to. Why do you ask? Worried about Hika?"

"Not really," Kaoru admitted, "Just trying to help him. But he doesn't really want me to. So I was thinking, since you're always with Mori, could you do something to, you know, help things along a bit?"

"Of course, Kao," Hunny smiled. Then they had to get ready to greet the girls for the day.

The carved pumpkins were all lined up on a table with tasteful Halloween decorations around them. Each was placed so as to look its best. None of the pumpkins had names on them, so the girls had to go by looks alone. Kyouya hired a high class auctioneer to handle the proceedings.

The last pumpkin to be auctioned was the one made by the trio. Kaoru and Kyouya's pumpkin sold for half again what Tamaki and Haruhi's did. Even so, Tamaki and Haruhi's pumpkin sold for enough to pay the auctioneer. Kyouya and Kaoru's sold for enough to cover the cost of the missing hosts for the three days. That meant that this last pumpkin was pure profit and that made Kyouya a very happy man.

Kaoru watched with fear and awe as two girls began waging a war of money over the last pumpkin. It was obviously Hunny and Mori's, and two of Hunny's clients insisted on winning it. Surprisingly, Reiko stayed out of it, having expressed disappointment at none of the pumpkins being scary enough for Halloween.

When all was said and done, the final pumpkin sold for twice the cost of Tamaki and Haruhi's. Kaoru was a little disappointed that he and Kyouya wouldn't get the time off together, but a shared glance with Hunny made him hide a grin. Hopefully the smallest of the hosts would find a way to get the other two together over the next few days.

After club hours, when all the girls left, Kaoru leaned on Kyouya's chair, trying to understand the massive spreadsheet the older boy was working on.

"You were wrong," he pointed out, hoping to inflame Kyouya. Few things in life were more attractive than an incensed Ohtori Kyouya.

"I was," Kyouya conceded, eyes still focused on the laptop. "The two girls who fought so fiercely over Hunny's pumpkin weren't even regular customers of his-neither ever booked him more than twice in one week. However, I am in no position to complain about the unexpected revenue. We will have to find time after club activities to be together. You don't mind?" Now he looked up at Kaoru, who could see the smallest hint of anxiety behind Kyouya's glasses.

"'Course not," Kaoru shook his head before moving to stand behind Kyouya's chair. He bent down to wrap his arms around Kyouya's shoulders. His cheek pressed itself to Kyouya's. Then he turned his head and pressed a warm kiss to the pale cheek, happy when he saw the smile it produced. "Do you have time today?"

Kyouya sighed disappointedly, making Kaoru pout. "I'm sorry. This week will be very busy. Since I'm not taking it off, I need to oversee the party on Friday." He leaned to the side and twisted so he could see Kaoru's face. "Next week, however, I will be sure to arrange my schedule so that we may have time together." Although the angle was awkward, Kyouya managed to brush his fingers along Kaoru's jaw, bringing him closer.

Kaoru's eyes slid half-closed and he used the tip of his tongue to moisten his lips. Kyouya smirked at his predictable reaction. Then he leaned up and simply rubbed their lips together. They shared a smile before parting their lips slightly and kissing in earnest.

Impatient with the little movement their current position allowed, although he did enjoy being taller for once, Kaoru kept their lips connected and moved so he was standing in front of Kyouya. He gasped as Kyouya pulled him into his lap, but 'hmm'd' in approval when he realized that he was still taller from this angle.

Kyouya nipped Kaoru's lower lip playfully, making the younger boy smile. Kaoru kissed the corner of Kyouya's mouth in revenge, refusing to let Kyouya make the kiss into a proper one. To counteract that, Kyouya began sprinkling light kisses along Kaoru's jaw and the side of his throat, making Kaoru sigh happily and lean his head to the side. His breathing was getting a little heavier. Kyouya chuckled at that before placing both hands on the sides of Kaoru's face and resting their foreheads together.

"In case I haven't mentioned it, I like you too," Kyouya's voice was soft and his cheeks were a little pinker than usual. Kaoru grinned and hugged Kyouya tightly.

"Kyouya! Stop molesting my little brother, we've gotta leave now." Hikaru stood in the doorway.

"I'm coming, Hikaru," Kaoru threw over his shoulder. "Talk to you later?" He whispered into Kyouya's ear, smirking wickedly when he felt him shiver a little. When Kyouya nodded, Kaoru kissed him one last time and went to join Hikaru. The twins held hands and went home.

* * *

Some of my favorite kisses to get in real life are those fun, playful ones, so I thought I'd let Kyouya and Kaoru have some too. It's why the chapter wasn't posted two days ago...I wanted to include at least one kiss. Of course, as so often happens in reality, one kiss often turns into several.

Hope ya'll enjoyed it!


	11. Chapter 11

Hello again! I'm so sorry that it's taken me so long to update. My Christmas break was far busier than I'd anticipated, and it lacked inspiration. Then it took me a little while to get back into the swing of school. I hope that you will forgive my horrible, horrible tardiness with updating. And that you enjoy this chapter.

* * *

That evening, Kaoru got a text from Hunny about their mission to get Mori and Hikaru together. He thought about it, then grinned and responded. Hikaru wouldn't like him interfering, but he wanted Hikaru to be happy.

After exchanging several texts with Hunny about their plans to get Hikaru together with Mori, Kaoru did his homework. He and Hikaru helped each other through the various subjects until they finally finished.

"I hate homework," Hikaru whined, head on the desk.

"Who doesn't? At least we don't have to do it alone like all those other suckers."

Hikaru grinned at him. Their shared smile was broken when Kaoru's phone began ringing. When he saw who the caller was, Kaoru began grinning.

"Oh, hell. I'm going to bed," Hikaru rolled his eyes and left their office.

"Hello?" Kaoru chirped into the phone.

"Staying out of trouble?"

"Of course not," Kaoru answered, leaning his chair back until it stood on two legs.

"I expected no less. Perhaps I'll have to come straighten you out," Kyouya teased.

"Hmmm, yes. You should definitely do that."

Kyouya sighed, "I really wish I could. I promise I'll open up my schedule a little next week."

"Aw, I miss you too," Kaoru blushed.

"Yes, well, so has anything interesting happened since you've been home?"

"Oh, well, I talked to Hunny a bit about what him, Mori, and Hikaru are doing tomorrow. Apparently they're going to some show or something. Hunny and I are plotting. I'm beginning to understand why you enjoy it so much."

"Hey," Kyouya pretended to be offended. "I don't plot. I execute perfect and well-prepared plans. Plotting is beneath me."

"Psh, yeah, whatever. Your perfect plan to get us three afternoons together didn't seem to work out too well," Kaoru made his voice light to ensure that Kyouya knew he was joking.

"Yes, well, you didn't exactly sound too heartbroken over my failure. Does it have something to do with your and Hunny's plot?"

"Maybe," Kaoru drew the word out. "I'm not telling, though. It's a secret. Besides, I can't let _him_ find out what we're doing."

"Why?"

"Well, he might have told me to keep my nose out of his and Mori's affair. But I want him to be happy, and I really think Mori can make him happy."

"He will probably be a little angry with you and Hunny when he first finds out, but if your plans work, he won't stay that way long. Mori definitely needs the help-maybe Hunny can make sure he's sleepy when they go out. That will lessen his inhibitions."

"Yeah, and he said he thought sleepy Mori was cute, so that can only work in their favor. I'll have to suggest that to Hunny." Kaoru paused, dropping the chair back onto four legs. "But why are you helping? What's in it for you?"

He heard Kyouya chuckle. "Well, if he's happy, you'll be happier. And if you're happier, I'll be happier. So it all works out."

"Hmm, so my happiness is that important to you?" Kaoru rested his chin in his hand and stuck a pen into his mouth.

"Maybe," Kyouya answered, mimicking Kaoru from before. "If I say yes, do I get something? You know how I don't like to do anything that doesn't offer merit."

"If you say yes, I will give you a hug tomorrow before club activities start."

"Hmm, I don't know if that's enough of a reward for giving you the satisfaction of thinking my happiness is dependant on you."

"Well, then, what if I kiss you on the forehead? That's a lot more than a hug."

"For a kiss on the forehead, I will let you know that your smile is cute, which is some incentive for me to do things that will produce a smile."

"Oh? And what will a peck on the lips get me?"

"Well, for that price, you will get the satisfaction of knowing that when you are happy, you smile more at the person who made you happy. So when I make you happy, I get the pleasure of being on the receiving end of the aforementioned cute smiles."

Kaoru's cheeks turned pink and he couldn't repress a wide smile. "And what about a proper kiss?"

"The reward for that is the knowledge that knowing that you're happy, no matter the cause, makes me able to rest a little easier at night, and to walk a little lighter in the day." Kyouya's voice was soft and carried more than just the words he said.

"

Wow, Kyouya," Kaoru sighed.

"So, I can expect a proper kiss from you tomorrow before club activities?" Kyouya sounded a little embarrassed, but not in a bad way. Kaoru suspected that Kyouya hadn't planned on revealing so much.

"Oh yes. At least. Will that make you happy?"

"It should."

"Then I'll definitely kiss you." Kaoru hoped that Kyouya understood what he meant. Both twins drifted to sleep smiling that evening.

From the moment the alarm went off in the morning until classes finally finished in the afternoon, all Hikaru could talk about was his three day vacation from hosting.

"It's gonna be so cool! We're gonna go see some bands, and then we'll go to an amusement park, and then we'll visit the zoo! The zoo's not quite as cool as the other two, but I know Hunny and Mori will really like it. Their website said they had new baby capybaras. Mori will really love those. And there's also gonna be-"

"I get it!" Kaoru yelled. He took a deep breath. "Look, I know you're really excited about this. I'm happy for you. But please, could you just shut up about it for a couple minutes. You're leaving soon. Chill."

"Somebody's jealous that he doesn't get to hang out with his boyfriend," Hikaru teased.

"So you're saying you're happy that you do get to hang out with your boyfriend?" Kaoru's smile was evil as Mori choked on air.

"Well, Takashi, Hika, let's get going!" Hunny danced into the room. "We don't want to miss seeing the band that Takashi took such care to get tickets to. It was really hard, last minute. But since Hika likes them so much, Takashi thought it was worth it."

Kaoru nearly winced at Hunny's lack of subtlety. If he had done that to Hikaru, he'd be wishing for the sweet release of death shortly afterwards. Mori, instead of looking upset, just blushed and looked away, which made Hikaru blush and look away. While they were distracted by not looking at each other, Kaoru winked at Hunny.

"It seems as though Hunny has it under control, then," Kyouya murmured from right behind Kaoru. Kaoru startled and looked over his shoulder at Kyouya. "You did promise payment today, you know. I have been good enough to wait until those three left. If you are late, I will have to charge interest."

"Mmmm, interest," Kaoru grinned. Then he stood on his tip-toes and kissed Kyouya squarely on the mouth.

Kyouya brought a hand up to Kaoru's cheek and held it there for the duration of the kiss. They pulled apart smiling.

"It seems I'm better at business than I thought. Not only do I get a kiss, but I also get the smile." Kyouya squeezed Kaoru's hand. Kaoru blushed and hugged Kyouya. "And a hug? I can tell that my stocks are going to do very well today." This time Kaoru shoved him away playfully. They laughed, and Kyouya leaned down to give Kaoru a quick kiss.

Then they went into the music room together. Kaoru decided that he could get used to doing things together with Kyouya.

* * *

Who doesn't love sappy late-night phone conversations? They're a staple in high-school relationships. Also, they're fun to write. ^.^


	12. Chapter 12

Hello again, friends! I was going to write something for V-day, but then I got distracted by researching for a presentation (I'm such a nerd...). ANYWAY! Here's the next chapter. I blame the dream part on Lover's Revenge.

* * *

Kaoru was working on his homework when Hikaru walked in that evening. Hikaru grinned at him.

"So how'd it go?" Kaoru drawled, pausing to rest his chin in his hand.

"It was awesome! The show was so cool. Mori picked a great band to go see. Of course, he based his pick off of my choice," Hikaru smiled a little before shaking himself. "But it's because of his and Hunny's plan. They said we were doing something every day that corresponds with something each of us really likes. Today was my day, so we went to the show. Tomorrow is the amusement park, for Hunny, and Thursday we're going to the zoo for Mori."

"Sounds fun. Although the last two sound more for Hunny than for Mori," Kaoru commented, frowning at his math homework.

"Oh, well, they'll both really like the zoo. You know how Mori is about animals. And when Hunny's happy, Mori's happy, so it works either way," Hikaru assured him, getting his own homework out. "You couldn't have done my homework for me?"

"No," Kaoru scoffed. "Why would I do that? You were off at an awesome show while I had to sit here all alone because Kyouya has homework and club stuff to do." He pouted. Then his face lightened and he wrote down an answer.

Hikaru grumbled , also starting on his homework. They worked in a comfortable quiet, only talking when one needed help from the other (usually Kaoru needed help from Hikaru, since they were working on math). Kaoru decided to keep quiet until they went to bed. He knew that if he pushed too much, Hikaru would get embarrassed and maybe even give up on Mori.

"So did Mori act strangely when you were together all day? Did you say anything to him that would let him know how you feel?" Kaoru weedled, changing into his pajamas.

"No! And I'm not going to. Mori cares too much about Hunny-I don't think I could compete with that. And I would never ask him to choose," Hikaru fidgeted with the blanket. "It's better if I don't go after him."

Kaoru looked at him softly. They'd both matured so much since they'd joined the Host Club. That was why Kaoru wanted more than ever for Hikaru to have someone to be happy with.

"I understand what you mean," he told Hikaru.

Then they dove under the covers. "G'night," they said simultaneously. Sleep came quickly.

The next morning, Kaoru woke before the alarm clock to an odd noise to his side.

"Mmm, Mori," Hikaru mumbled in his sleep, clutching his pillow desperately. "Yeah," he sighed.

Kaoru snickered. Hikaru was having a wet dream about the "wild type" host. And, from the sounds he was making, it was a good one. Kaoru began planning exactly how he'd embarrass Hikaru when he woke up either very aroused or very sticky.

Then Hikaru rolled over and wrapped himself around Kaoru, and all of his evil plans left him.

"Ack!" Kaoru yelled, shoving Hikaru so hard the older boy fell to the floor on the opposite side of the bed. "Aaah!" he cried, trying very hard to forget that his twin had just been pressing his erection into his side, beginning to dry hump him.

"Dammit! What the hell?" Hikaru swore from the carpet.

"Waaaah!" Kaoru yelled at him. Then Hikaru noticed his morning wood. His face was red as he peeked up at Kaoru, who was twitching violently.

"Er, sorry?" Hikaru offered. When Kaoru glared at him, he sunk beneath the edge of the bed again.

After a few moments of awkward silence, Kaoru began cackling.

"Great," Hikaru muttered, "I've broken him. Now we're gonna be known as those twins who have the weirdo and the retard."

"I'm fine, Hikaru," Kaoru assured him. "Just never do it again." His face turned hard again.

"You've been spending too much time with Kyouya lately," Hikaru informed him.

"Tch, I wish," Kaoru responded. "But you must've been having a pretty good dream. What exactly was Mori doing to you, that would make you react like that, hmmm?" He smiled evilly.

"Definitely spending too much time with Kyouya. No way I'm telling you," Hikaru stuck his tongue out at Kaoru.

"Then I guess I'll just have to ask everyone at the club what they think. I wonder what Mori's answer will be?"

"Jerk," Hikaru whimpered. When Kaoru's evil smirk stayed in place, he sighed. "It's embarrassing! It was just a typical...you know. There was kissing and...other stuff. And...you know. I can't talk about this! This is worse than your bishop-choking question." He grabbed a pillow from the bed and began attempting to smother himself with it.

Kaoru leaned over and grabbed the pillow from him. "Now are you sorry for all the times you made me do embarrassing things?"

"Yes! Yes I am. Now please leave me alone?" Hikaru pouted.

"Yeah, okay," Kaoru conceded. "You should probably take a shower or something, though. You know..." Hikaru nodded. This he could deal with.

"And I know who you'll be thinking about," Kaoru sang. Hikaru just glared at him.

When they made it to school, both of their faces had returned to their normal colors. Every once in a while, however, Kaoru would snicker evilly, and Hikaru would shove him. Kaoru couldn't wait until they actually saw Mori.

The school day went by just like every other day. Tamaki was obnoxious, Haruhi was being pragmatic, Kyouya was being calculative, and the twins were being devilish.

Kyouya grabbed Kaoru before lunch and pulled him into that unused lab where Hikaru and Kaoru had threatened Kyouya into letting Kaoru spend more time with him. When the door was closed, Kyouya wrapped his arms around Kaoru and held him close.

"Kyouya? Is something wrong?" Kaoru pulled back just enough to see Kyouya's face.

"No, I'm just tired. And I didn't get to spend much time with you yesterday," Kyouya was obviously trying very hard not to seem embarrassed by his words. Kaoru thought his attempts were cute, so he took pity on him.

"I know! You definitely need to work something out next week. And after the girls leave on Friday, I'm not going to give you any personal space, so be ready," Kaoru warned, attempting to look stern.

"Even when I go to the bathroom?" Kyouya raised an eyebrow.

"Uh, yeah," Kaoru answered, "After all, you got to see me naked, so it's not fair if I don't get the same opportunity."

"Going to the bathroom doesn't require removing all of ones clothes," Kyouya pointed out. Then he smirked, "But it's interesting to note that you want to see me naked."

"Er, ah, huh?" Kaoru's face turned a brilliant shade of pink, and he tried to free himself from Kyouya's arms.

"You're not getting away," Kyouya informed him, clutching him all the tighter. Kaoru only resisted a little, enjoying the feel of Kyouya holding him so tightly. Their movements slowed, and their eyes met. Kaoru noticed how close their faces were.

"I really really like you," he whispered, barely registering that he'd said it aloud. Kyouya, however, definitely noticed it, because his eyes darkened and his breath caught.

"Me too," he responded, before leaning down to kiss Kaoru's lips.

The only description Kaoru's fuddled mind could come up with for the kiss was _dominant._ He whimpered helplessly as Kyouya's tongue moved into his mouth and rubbed itself against Kaoru's. Kaoru tried to keep up, to give back as much as he was getting, but Kyouya persisted in leading this dance. Kyouya's left hand guided and held Kaoru's head in the optimal position, while his right reached down to the back pockets of their uniform pants, pulling Kaoru's hips closer. At the feel of their hips pressing together, both boys moaned.

Kaoru pulled his mouth away, gasping for air. Instead of give up his assault, Kyouya instead continued it on Kaoru's pale throat. He pressed several kisses down the column of it, scraping his teeth against Kaoru's Adam's-apple. An evil smirk crossed his lips as he felt the vibrations of the groan that elicited.

He licked at the hollow of Kaoru's throat, then moved to the edge of his collar. Moving his left hand down, he used it to pull the collar out of the way. Then, he sucked on the skin he'd exposed.

Kaoru made a helpless sound again, prompting Kyouya to return to his mouth. This time, each attacked the other's mouth with equal fervor. Kaoru registered at the back of his mind that he was making small, needy noises into Kyouya's mouth, but he couldn't bring himself to care.

Suddenly, Kyouya grabbed Kaoru's shoulders and pushed him firmly away. Kaoru looked at him, feeling hurt and rejected.

"Lunch," Kyouya explained, breathing heavily. "We need to eat lunch. Otherwise neither of us will be able to concentrate later."

"Oh," Kaoru responded, still feeling a bit dejected. "Of course. Sorry." He turned away with his shoulders slumped. When Kyouya wrapped his arms around him and pulled him firmly into a hug, Kaoru's back to Kyouya's front, he gasped.

"Kaoru," Kyouya's mouth moved against Kaoru's ear, making him shiver. "I care about you, so I don't want to negatively effect you. Believe me, I don't want to stop any more than you do." Kaoru felt his whole body redden when he noticed the evidence of that statement firmly against his backside.

"Okay," he admitted. Then an evil idea came to him, and he wiggled around so that he was facing Kyouya. "But you promise that I get you to myself after the guests leave on Halloween?" He pouted up at Kyouya, his best 'submissive uke' look firmly in place. When he could tell that it was beginning to effect Kyouya, he moved in for the kill. He wrapped his arms around Kyouya's waist, holding him tightly, then slowly but firmly, rolled his hips up against the aforementioned evidence of Kyouya's unwillingness to stop.

"Evil," Kyouya hissed, eyes half closed. "Fine, yes. Whatever you want." The look in his eyes was dangerous, and made Kaoru shiver in anticipation.

Kaoru abruptly let go and pirouetted away. He flashed a knowing grin at Kyouya as he headed to eat with Haruhi.

"See you at the club, Kyouya," he half-sang. Friday would not come soon enough.

* * *

So! Here it is. I hope you enjoyed it! Please drop a review or something if you did, it really motivates me. Also, if you have any ideas for something you think should happen, just let me know! A lot of the time between updates is me trying to come up with new ways to torture Kyouya and Kaoru-and Hikaru and Mori, on occasion-and move the plot forward. If everything goes as I planned (nothing ever goes as I plan), I should have just a few more chapters left. Of course, I said that 9 chapters ago, too. -.-"


	13. Chapter 13

Wow, this chapter's longer than I expected. Hopefully it makes up for not updating for so long. I just couldn't find any inspiration for this chapter. Now, however, I have some pretty concrete ideas for the next couple chapters (hopefully the last 2), so they shouldn't take as long. It's funny that I always get my best inspiration when I have a test to study for or a paper to do.

Hope you enjoy it!

* * *

Haruhi watched him inquisitively as Kaoru finally sat down next to her with his meal. Instead of answering her obvious unspoken question, however, he smiled impishly and teased her about the empty seat on her other side.

"Tono not here yet?" He didn't lose any of his good humor when she didn't blush. Then, across the cafeteria, he saw Tamaki and Kyouya talking animatedly. When Tamaki gestured widely to where Kaoru and Haruhi sat, he put to rest Kaoru's curiosity about their topic of conversation. Kyouya amused Kaoru by turning away from Tamaki without responding. He could just imagine the face he was making.

During lunch, Tamaki kept glancing suspiciously between Kaoru and Kyouya. When everyone finished eating and began heading to their classrooms, Tamaki held back.

"Kaoru."

Kaoru turned and tilted his head at the Host Club's King. "Yeah?"

"Can I talk to you for a minute?" Tamaki looked nervous, which made Kaoru nervous.

"Uh, sure, I guess. It'll have to be quick, though, we can't be late for class."

"Of course." Tamaki took a deep breath and looked at Kaoru with that serious expression he showed every once in a while. "Just how serious are you about Kyouya?"

Kaoru blinked. That was rather direct. "Um, wow, well, I mean..." he trailed off, scratching the back of his head in discomfort. "Pretty serious. Like, I really like him a lot and he's awesome and I don't know how I got so lucky as to have him like me back…Is that what you were asking?"

"Yes." Violet eyes narrowed at Kaoru, studying him.

"Is there a problem?" Kyouya had doubled back and stood with a hand on Kaoru's shoulder.

"No, I was just talking to Kaoru," Tamaki shrugged, watching Kyouya's protective stance and Kaoru's comforting smile back at him. Then Tamaki grinned at them in his usual chaotic way. "Daddy is so happy for both of you!" He pounced on them, wrapping both in a bone-cracking hug.

"Aack!" Kaoru tried to flail but couldn't, pinned by the surprisingly strong arms of the Host Club President.

"Tamaki, idiot, let us go," Kyouya grated. Tamaki ignored both and continued to hug them and spout nonsense, some of which sounded like a seating plan for a wedding reception.

"Hey, you guys better hurry if you don't want to be late for class. I promised Hikaru that I'd watch out for Kaoru this week," Haruhi stood a few feet away, watching them with something that looked suspiciously like amusement in her eyes.

"Haruhi! Daddy was just telling Mommy and the slightly-less-devilish twin how happy is is for them. Do you think you'd be in the bride's party, or the groom's?"

"I think we need to get to class," she responded flatly, sending Tamaki into depression. She sighed at him in his dark corner, and then turned to the couple still standing close to each other. "Well, at least he approves. He was worried about you, Kyouya, and wanted to see how serious Kaoru was before giving his blessing. It's almost sweet of him." Neither missed the affectionate look she gave Tamaki, who was currently poking at mushrooms. After she coaxed him from his corner, they all went to class.

Host Club went as ever, with Kaoru sighing heavily most of the time. The girls all asked him if he missed Hikaru, and he would always say how much he did, then he'd pull a sad face, and the girls would swoon at forbidden love impeded by circumstance. Honestly, Kaoru felt more annoyed than anything. He hadn't been able to contact Hunny the night before to talk about plans for the amusement park. Hunny loved the cute rides, and Mori would not likely let him ride them alone. Then there was the issue of many of the rides being for only two people, which meant Hikaru would be left alone.

Kaoru looked down at his pocket as it vibrated, letting him know he'd just gotten a text. Looking over at Kyouya to make sure he wasn't watching, he pulled out his phone and peeked.

"Ooh, is it from Hikaru?" One of the girls leaned in close.

"Oh, well, it's actually from Hunny, letting me know how Hikaru is doing. He knew I'd be worried about him." Kaoru smiled wistfully and sighed again, keeping himself from rolling his eyes at the predictability of the girls' reactions.

"What's it say?"

"How's he doing?"

"Does he miss you too?"

Kaoru winced and peeked over to Kyouya. Who was watching with a slightly disapproving look on his face. He smiled sheepishly at him before deciding that the best way to entertain the girls would be to tell them what Hunny said, not showing them the picture of Hikaru clutching Mori's arm, hiding most of his face but still obviously laughing. He would glady Hikaru later, though, because the look in Mori's eyes was just a bit too focused and protective, and it would definitely make Hikaru turn red.

"He told me that Hikaru is having fun on the rides with Mori. Hunny doesn't like the scary rides, but Hikaru and Mori do, so they ride those together," Kaoru smiled genuinely. "I'm glad they're having a good time."

He startled a little when the girls around him swooned. Again, he looked over at Kyouya to see his reaction, and blushed at the intense look in the dark eyes. Turning back to the girls, rejuvenated by the news of his brother, Kaoru threw himself into hosting for the rest of the afternoon.

After club hours, Haruhi had to leave to do some shopping and Tamaki had to leave to work with his father's company.

"So what was so important that you had to take your phone out?" Kyouya obviously had to try to sound disapproving.

"A text from Hunny. Here, look," Kaoru showed him the text and the image. "I'm really glad that he's having a good time." He leaned his forehead against Kyouya's shoulder, looking at the screen with him. His eyes closed as a cool hand threaded itself through his hair and stroked the auburn strands comfortingly.

"Do you believe that things will work out between them?" Kyouya sounded genuinely interested.

"Yeah, at least, I hope so. They both seem to like each other, but neither believes that he's good enough for the other. Hunny and I both think that's a load of crap, so we're trying to fix it. I don't know about the future, but I know that right now they can make each other happy. And I want my brother to be happy."

"You're a good person," Kyouya told him, and Kaoru looked into his eyes. They were calm and serious and dark, and suddenly Kaoru remembered the mean trick he'd played on Kyouya at lunchtime and how he'd felt pressed so tightly against him. He pressed his face into Kyouya's arm to hide his blush. "What's the problem?" From the tone of voice, Kaoru knew that Kyouya had a pretty good idea of what the problem was.

"Nothing," he tried not to squeak.

"Really?" Kyouya's smirk was evident in his voice. Cool, slender fingers danced along the edge of Kaoru's collar, making him shiver.

"Do you, uh, have any work to do now?" Kaoru asked distractedly.

"Not at the moment," Kyouya murmured into a reddening ear. "Hmm, I left quite the mark here earlier," he remarked, thumb rubbing a sensitive spot just past Kaoru's collar.

"Huh?" Kaoru tried to look but couldn't turn his head that far. Kyouya took advantage of his position to capture Kaoru's lips with his own.

Once again, Kaoru felt himself weaken against the onslaught of Kyouya's mouth. He lost himself in the slightly rough texture of Kyouya's tongue against his own, in the quickly warming fingers against his skin, the firm chest he found himself pressed against. Kyouya pulled back, prompting Kaoru to open eyes he didn't remember closing.

He found dark eyes watching him raptly. Kaoru had noticed Kyouya watching him before after kissing and found it flattering. Then he remembered what Kyouya had said.

"Wait, you left a mark?" Kaoru rushed to a mirror and pulled his collar down to see the reddish mark clearly standing out from his fair skin. "Kyouya! Hikaru will notice this!" He rubbed it futilely. When he saw Kyouya approaching, he glared halfheartedly through the mirror.

"What? Hikaru knows we're together. And now, when you're brushing your teeth tonight and brushing your hair in the morning, you'll see this and think of me." Kyouya gave him a self-satisfied smile, meeting his eyes in the mirror. Then the smile turned into a smirk that meant trouble.

Keeping his eyes on Kaoru's, Kyouya pulled the cloth away to once more reveal the hickey at the juncture of his neck and shoulder. His eyes positively smoldered as he lowered his face to the spot and licked it lightly, before grazing his teeth against it. Then he bit it sharply, but not painfully, making Kaoru gasp at the sensation.

"Kyouya, you'll make it worse," Kaoru tried to protest. Instead of responding, Kyouya grinned. Still keeping eye-contact, he kissed and licked his way up Kaoru's neck. Amber eyes almost shut, but every time they threatened to close completely Kyouya would apply his tongue, teeth, or lips in a particularly creative way, making them widen again.

By the time Kyouya made it to Kaoru's mouth, both were breathing harder than usual. Kaoru turned his face from the mirror to lick his way into Kyouya's mouth, where his tongue met with another yet again.

Kyouya placed on long-fingered hand against Kaoru's hip, thumb rubbing against a hipbone in a way that could have been soothing but only stirred Kaoru more. His other arm wrapped around Kaoru's chest, pulling him flush against Kyouya's body. The hand on his hip moved to his stomach and pulled his backside firmly against Kyouya's hips. Kyouya made a small, desperate sound against Kaoru's lips, making Kaoru's temperature rise.

Kyouya did it again, and Kaoru's breath hitched at the firm line of Kyouya's erection against his ass. The hand against his stomach pulled him against Kyouya even harder as the hand at his chest caressed his nipples a little desperately.

"Kyouya," Kaoru whined, wanting more, wanting one of those talented, no longer cool hands to move lower, to press against the uncomfortably tight crotch of his pants, increase and alleviate the delicious tension there.

From the table with Kyouya's laptop, they heard a sensible ringing coming from Kyouya's cell phone.

"Dammit," Kyouya whispered, making Kaoru raise his eyebrows. He'd never heard Kyouya curse before. He pulled away, obviously not wanting to, pressing a wet kiss to the side of Kaoru's neck before letting him go entirely. Picking up the phone irritably, he pushed a button and pressed it to his ear. "Yes?"

Kaoru watched him with interest. Kyouya was obviously irritated with having to stop, and to be honest, so was Kaoru, but he absolutely wouldn't neglect his responsibilities. Despite Kaoru's seemingly unending sexual frustration, he found that he admired that part of Kyouya.

After a few short, polite sentences, Kyouya hung up and sighed deeply. "My father has requested my presence at the company this afternoon. Nothing serious," he waved a hand at Kaoru's concerned look, "but it's not something I can avoid." His frown was so unhappy that it was cute.

Kaoru walked over to him and hugged him tightly, cheek against the steady heartbeat. "I understand, Kyouya. Go. We've got Friday night together," he looked up directly into Kyouya's dark eyes. Something Kyouya saw made his eyes darken.

After a brief but still heated kiss, Kyouya left and Kaoru gathered his things to head home.

When Hikaru got home, Kaoru could tell that he'd had a good time. Even though his cheeks were a little sunburned, he still couldn't keep himself from grinning.

"So, it seems you had a good day at the amusement park," Kaoru remarked, pulling out his phone and showing Hikaru the picture Hunny'd sent him.

"Wha-?" Hikaru stared at the picture, already red cheeks blushing. "It was a scary ride," he defended himself.

"Of course it was," Kaoru said placatingly. When Hikaru glared at him, he just grinned. "All of the costumes are finished, aren't they?" Kaoru couldn't remember; it had been a busy few days.

"Yeah, except for the final touches. But we'll do those right before the party," Hikaru shrugged. They worked on homework for a few minutes before Kaoru couldn't stand it anymore.

"Come on! Tell me more about the amusement park. Did Mori do anything cool? Other than that one ride, did you get to be close to him? They didn't leave you alone, did they?" Kaoru pestered, poking Hikaru on the arm repeatedly.

"They never left me alone, don't worry about that. And Mori's always cool," Hikaru smiled a little. "On the ferris wheel Hunny wanted to sit on the outside so he could see, so me'n Mori ended up next to each other. And since the benches aren't very big, we were kinda smashed together. Because his shoulders are so broad, he had to put his arms on the back of the seat, so it kinda felt like he had his arm around my shoulder." Hikaru sighed happily.

"Ugh, you sound like a girl," Kaoru told him.

"Shut up! Do not." Hikaru stuck his tongue out at his little brother.

For a few moments they stared at each other hostilely before they cracked and started laughing.

"So," Kaoru smirked at Hikaru, who looked at him warily. "Were there any embarrassing moments where you remembered your dream from last night?" He grinned widely when Hikaru's face flooded with red.

"One," Hikaru told him, "In the car on the way. Mori was still sleepy, and he turned to me and told me good morning, and his eyes were half closed and he smiled slowly. I thought I was gonna die." Kaoru 'hmm'd' in sympathy. He knew what that was like.

Kaoru put off changing into his pajamas as long as possible, but when all of the homework was finished and they were both sleepy, he couldn't delay it any longer. Once they'd finished changing Hikaru glanced up at him to say something, and then choked on air.

"What's that?" He pointed to the mark just visible from the sleep shirt.

"Er, ah, well, you see, today at lunch, well before lunch technically, we ran into each other, and stuff happened, and, uh, yeah," Kaoru finished lamely. After a few moments, Hikaru's eyes lit with understanding. Then he laughed.

"Kyouya gave you a hickey?" His voice reached an embarrassingly high note for his age, but he couldn't manage to be ashamed over his mirth.

"Shut up, I didn't know he was doing it at the time!" Kaoru fidgeted. Thankfully, Hikaru left it at that and crawled under the covers.

Joining him, Kaoru turned to Hikaru and asked, only half joking. "So do we need a pillow between us tonight, or do you think your dreams will be tamer?"

"Ugh, I don't know," Hikaru replied. "Just kick me if I do that again, okay? And I promise to do the same to you if you start having weird dreams about Kyouya." Kaoru nodded agreeably. He loved Hikaru dearly, but he did not want that to happen again. They may put on a show for the girls, but the thought of their act being truth made both of them nauseous.

Back to back, they both slurred sleepily, "G'night."

* * *

Hope you enjoyed it! Any criticisms or ideas are always appreciated. I feel as though the characters were out of character this chapter; I just couldn't get the feel of them today, and I'm never confident about my portrayals of Tamaki (which is why I haven't had him in many of my chapters...). Hopefully it was still alright.


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